


Unexpected

by Phantom_Lover



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Normal High School, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 21:47:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 27,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29641128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phantom_Lover/pseuds/Phantom_Lover
Summary: Luke is determined to breeze through his senior year and onto mega stardom (which means avoiding school, and Principal Lessa, as much as possible). That is until he's forced to work side-by-side with quiet good-girl, Julie Molina, on the big end-of-the-year talent show. The two struggle to see eye to eye, and meeting the all-important deadline seems impossible until something unexpected happens between them.
Relationships: Julie Molina & Luke Patterson, Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 16
Kudos: 134





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: The story is mine, but unfortunately the characters don't belong to me. Cross-posted on Wattpad.

**Chapter 1**

"And where do you think you're going, Mr. Patterson?"

The boy froze at the sound of what he knew was the voice of his principal behind him. He turned slowly, plastering the most innocent, smiling look on his face he could muster.

"Principal Lessa, how nice to see you. You're looking very beautiful today. Did you do something new with your hair?"

"Flattery won't work for you this time, Luke. This is the second time this week I've caught you trying to sneak off school grounds."

"I know, but hear me out. There is this mega important audition I wanted to get to. It's a matter of my future. You understand."

"I understand if it was that important your parents would've called the office to excuse your absence. There would be no need for this sneaking."

"Mrs. Lessa, you know my parents don't appreciate my talent."

"An unfortunate misgiving on their part, but the fact still remains you're not allowed to leave the school without permission. I expect to see you after school today to discuss the details of your detentions."

"Detentions? More than one? Come on, Principal Lessa. My band practices after school. I can't be stuck in more than one detention."

"Perhaps you'll remember that next time you decide to make a break for it. Now get back to class."

Luke turned his back to her and rolled his eyes as he made his way back down the hall to the class he was supposed to be in. He was half tempted to skip out on his meeting with the principal after school, but he knew that would mean excruciatingly long lectures from his parents and possible grounding from now until eternity. He figured it was best to suffer the consequences here. Whatever they may be.

"Luke! We set to practice after school today?" Luke's friend Reggie greeted him in the hallway after class.

"Principal Lessa caught me trying to skip earlier. I've got detention."

"That sucks. I had some new material I wanted to try. Don't go." Reggie suggested with a casual shrug as the two walked down the hall after their last class.

"Yeah, and then get grounded by my parents until I'm forty? I don't think so. Whatever Lessa has in store for me is far less painful than what my parents will do."

"What's up guys?" Their friend Alex greeted as he sidled up beside them in the hall.

He tugged at the strap of his backpack as they pushed their way through the crowd.

"Luke landed himself in detention for the next year, so it's just you and me after school" Reggie informed him.

Alex rolled his eyes as he dodged a group of cheerleaders.

"Ok, but I am not playing any of that country crap you've been working on."

"I'll be back to rehearsing by the end of the week," Luke assured them both.

"Yeah, ok." Alex replied sarcastically then stopped suddenly.

Both Reggie and Luke stopped short to consider why Alex had suddenly gone catatonic until they looked to see him staring ahead at the object of his unrequited affection, Will. He was leaning on Alex's locker, talking with a group of friends.

"You alright, Alex?" Luke asked smacking him on the chest with the back of his hand.

Alex blinked and nodded seeming to come back from his trance.

"Yeah, why?" He asked dazed.

Luke and Reggie shared a look behind Alex's back as they continued on.

"Why don't you just go talk to him?" Reggie suggested.

"Oh, sure." Alex replied with a roll of his eyes. He breathed a sigh of relief as Will and his friends moved on down the hallway.

"I'll see you guys later." Luke said with a wave as he headed into the office for what he hoped would be a quick and painless meeting with Principal Lessa.

"Mr. Patterson." The school secretary greeted him with a smile.

"Ms. Doleson, always nice to see you." He said giving her his most charming grin as he leaned over the counter toward her. "Any chance you can give me a heads up on this meeting with Principal Lessa?" He asked with a bat of his eyes.

"You're in for it this time, Patterson." The secretary tisked as she answered the ringing phone on her desk.

Luke took a seat and ran a hand through his wavy brown hair, his knee bouncing.

"Mr. Patterson, Principal Lessa said you can head into her office." The secretary said with a nod toward the closed door just ahead.

Luke sighed as he stood, heading toward his pending doom.

"Good luck!" Ms. Doleson called after him as he pushed through the door.

"Luke," The principal greeted, motioning for him to sit in the chair across from her desk.

He took a seat, spreading out casually in the chair looking nonchalant. The two sat in silence for a short moment.

"What are your goals, Mr. Patterson?" The woman asked steepling her fingers under her chin.

Luke looked thoughtful for a moment, "To be legendary." He replied proudly.

Principal Lessa's mouth pressed to a thin line.

"Your academic goals, Luke."

He shrugged. "Who needs school when you're a star?"

"Even stars need to know how to read and do math." She countered.

"I can read!" Luke argued sitting up straight.

"Yes, so it would seem." Principal Lessa glanced over a page that sat on her desk. "Your scores are very impressive, Mr. Patterson. With grades like these you could have endless picks of top universities knocking on your door."

Luke waved her off slumping back in his seat. "No, thanks."

"Yes, I know. You're destined for stardom. Do you know how many musicians make it big out of all the dreamers?"

Luke stared past her, a stubborn look set on his face.

"All I'm saying is that I think it's important for you to have a backup plan. Just in case. And your attitude toward education, in general, could use some help."

Luke shook his head an imperceptible amount. "Can you just give me my punishment, or was this conversation it?"

Principal Lessa shot him a look. Just then there was gentle tap at the door. "Come in!" She called.

The door slowly opened and the two watched as a girl came in gripping a stack of books protectively to her chest. Her wild, dark curls covered part of her face as her glasses slipped down her nose.

"You wanted to see me, Principal Lessa?" She asked pushing her glasses back up.

"Julie, come on in." The older woman smiled at her.

Luke watched the girl intently as she took the seat beside him. He'd seen her around school before. He couldn't remember where exactly, but there was something familiar about her.

"Luke this is Julie. Julie, this is Luke." The principal said by way of introduction.

Luke gave her a terse nod, Julie lifted a few of her fingers off the arm of the chair she sat in to wave. Luke was seriously beginning to wonder what was going on here.

As if reading his mind, Principal Lessa continued, "Julie is one of our brightest and best in the music program, and she graciously agreed to help with this year's senior showcase."

Luke scoffed loudly, earning him hard looks from both women.

"The senior showcase is a joke. No self-respecting talent even bothers with that."

"Actually, it's not a joke. It's a huge draw for industry professionals and performing arts colleges. This school has a well-known reputation for musical talent. Although you would already know that if you had any." Julie shot back.

"Miss Molina, there's no need to get personal," Mrs. Lessa interjected.

Luke sat up straight in his chair again staring Julie in the eye. Principal Lessa put a hand up, before standing and coming to the front of her desk.

"Julie is right that the senior showcase is a major opportunity for many of our students here at the school," She said turning to look at Luke. "And it's a big job to take on, especially as a junior." She said turning now to Julie. "So I'd like the two of you to work together." She concluded.

"No way. I want no part of this." Luke said standing to his feet.

"No offense Mrs. Lessa, but Luke Patterson doesn't exactly have a stellar reputation for being dependable." Julie offered.

"How would you know?" Luke shot back.

"I consider this payment for all the times you've skipped school this year, and for that little stunt you pulled on the soccer field last week."

Luke's mouth fell open.

"I know you, Reginald and Alexander had something to do with it, so you can close your mouth and save your breath." Mrs. Lessa said holding up her hand to stop him.

Luke let out an exasperated sigh.

"You two can meet here next week after school to get started discussing details. Maybe you can convince your friends to help out too, Mr. Patterson?"

"Yeah, right." Luke muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" The principal asked.

"I'll see what I can do!" Luke said enthusiastically, a fake smile plastered to his face.

"Great! Miss Molina thank you again for helping support this. Mr. Patterson?" She shot Luke a stern look. "Behave yourself." Were her parting words as Luke and Julie made their way from her office.

"Does 3:00 work for you for next Monday?" Julie asked as they walked back into the now empty hallways.

Luke rounded on her, "I don't know. Apparently I'm not dependable, so probably not." He said rolling his eyes. "What makes you so special? You trying to get brownie points sucking up to the principal? All you music nerds are the same."

Julie followed at his heels as he began to walk away. "Actually, Ms. Harrison asked me do it. It's tradition that a junior organize the showcase. It's like a right of passage or something."

Luke stopped at his locker, bending to turn the dial on his combination lock.

"Listen, I've had kind of a rough year." Julie said trying to control the quiver in her voice.

Luke shot her a weary look out of the corner of his eye. Surely the last thing he needed was some random girl getting emotional on him.

"Ms. Harrison is only letting me stay in the music program if I do it. So...I guess we both need this." Julie said with a defeated shrug.

"Nope." Luke said slamming his locker shut. "Not me." He threw his backpack over his shoulder and turned to walk away. "Good luck, Julia!" He called over his shoulder before he made his way outside.

"It's Julie!" She yelled back as the door slammed after him. 


	2. Chapter 2

"You're late." Julie remarked as Luke sauntered into the music room the following Monday.

She didn't even bother looking up from her notebook. After waiting around on him for nearly an hour, she'd just assumed he really wasn't going to show.

"Yeah, sorry about that." He offered not sounding sorry at all.

He flopped himself in the nearest chair and kicked his feet up on the adjoining seat. He wriggled down, snuggling in on himself as if he were going to take a nap.

"Seriously?" Julie asked incredulously.

She wondered what his problem was, and couldn't help thinking that this was exactly why she had told Principal Lessa that Luke couldn't be relied on. Not to mention, she'd had a couple of elective classes with him over the years and knew first hand his attendance was questionable. She turned to eye him angrily. He relaxed, letting his eyes flutter closed.

"I was up late last night with rehearsals." Luke mumbled in his sleepy state.

"That's not my problem. You're supposed to be helping me. You should be more responsible." Julie argued.

"Relax, _mom_!" Luke replied sarcastically opening his eyes long enough to roll them at her.

Julie sat glaring at him, hoping he could feel her annoyance boring through his thick skull. Luke opened one eye to peek at her, sighing loudly as he begrudgingly sat up.

"I need help figuring out how we're going to run rehearsals, and I need to know if you're available." Julie said ignoring his attitude.

"Sorry, you're not really my type." Luke said with a shrug, trying to hide a smirk as he lounged back in his chair.

Julie scoffed as she felt her temper flair, "First of all, this may come as a surprise since you're used to having girls stupidly throw themselves at you, but I wouldn't be caught dead with a guy like you. Second of all, I'm wondering what days after school you can pry yourself away from your precious band rehearsals to help me."

Luke shrugged again, closing his eyes to rest.

Julie growled, "You are the single most annoying person I've ever met."

"Have you met you?" Luke muttered under his breath.

"Real mature, Luke." Julie chided.

They sat in a quiet stand off; a battle of the wills. Finally, Luke conceded, "Fine. I can do next Tuesday."

"Thank you." Julie said curtly as she began to pack up her belongings. "Next Tuesday, 4:00. Don't forget." She warned as she walked past him on her way out the door.

It came as no surprise that the following Tuesday, Julie sat waiting alone in the auditorium as hopeful participants lined the rows of seats behind her. She glanced impatiently at her watch as she heard the grumblings of several people behind her, noting it was nearly 4:15. She reluctantly stood in front of the crowd and explained the audition process. She knew she was perfectly capable of handling this by herself, but she felt a great deal of irritation stirring inside her when she thought about how she shouldn't have to do any of this alone.

As she stood to leave nearly two hours later after the final act, she was startled to find Luke sitting in the very last row, his legs propped up on the seat back in front of him.

"That was painful." He remarked, a half-lidded expression on his face.

"How long have you been here?" Julie asked as she approached him, feeling a tiny shred of hope at his being there.

"Long enough."

"Did you want to discuss who to include in the show?" Julie asked.

"No." He replied simply as he stood to his feet, grabbing his flannel jacket off the seat.

Julie threw her hands up in exasperation.

"Chill." Luke said holding up a hand to her. "I need to eat. You want to get something to eat with me?"

"No." Julie said stubbornly, folding her arms over her chest.

Luke shrugged, "Suit yourself. I'll see you tomorrow."

——

Julie sighed impatiently as she sat at the piano in the music room after school the next day. She brushed her fingers over the keys, and hummed a tune as she hit a few notes. Bringing both hands to the piano, she let her hands take over. The feel of the keys was comforting and familiar to her touch. The words of a song she once knew caught in her throat, until a few of the lyrics made their way past her lips.

It was like a dam breaking and Julie found herself singing the words to the last song she and her mom had ever written together as she played the piano. An unexpected tear fell down her cheek as she reached the end of the song. Someone cleared their throat behind her, causing her to startle. As she whipped around on the bench she found Luke standing in the doorway, a strange expression on his face.

"You almost gave me a heart attack!" She admonished, quickly closing the lid on the piano and swiping away the tear.

"You can really wail." Luke replied, fidgeting with the gray stocking knit cap he wore on his head.

"Yeah, us music nerds can muster up some talent occasionally." Julie replied sarcastically. "Why are you here?" She asked glancing at the clock.

Luke walked over to her side, his backpack sliding off his shoulder to the floor.

"Principal Lessa called my parents last night to 'check in.'" He used his fingers to air quote as he rolled his eyes. "So...yeah. After a very _very_ long conversation, I was convinced to be better at helping out." He said as he pulled up a chair beside her, turning it to straddle the seat backward. "What do we need to do?"

"Well, _we_ were supposed to meet an hour ago to discuss who made it from tryouts, but I have French and calc homework to do, so thanks for nothing." Julie replied grabbing her backpack to leave.

"I'm sorry!" Luke offered as he quickly grabbed his things to follow her. "I got caught up with another... thing."

Julie shot him a look out of the corner of her eye, "You can save it. I don't need to hear your excuses."

Her footsteps increased as she tried to evade him. She was annoyed to find him keeping pace.

"Julie, please." He said grabbing her shoulder to stop her. "It won't happen again. Promise." He gave her his best smile, the one that made all the girls cave.

"No thanks, it's easier for me to work alone." She said blowing him off with a shrug and continued walking.

"I'll do your calc homework for you!" He offered hurriedly.

She walked on without a word.

"Je parle Français!" He attempted one last offer at her quickly retreating figure.

Luke stood defeated wondering what he could do now to get in her good graces and redeem himself.


	3. Chapter 3

"Why is Luke Patterson staring at you?" Julie's friend Flynn asked as the two stood at Julie's locker between classes the next day.

Julie glanced over her shoulder finding that Luke was indeed staring at her. She dutifully ignored him and turned back to her friend.

"Are you able to help me after school today with some stage ideas?" Julie asked finding Flynn's attention split between her and whatever was happening over her shoulder.

"Ok, no big deal but Luke is totally coming this way." Flynn said through a clenched smile looking panic stricken.

"Hey Julie." Luke greeted her with a smile. "What time should I plan on meeting you after school today?" He asked leaning casually on the locker beside hers.

"I told you yesterday I'll work alone. You can pay off your debt to society some other way." She replied. "Besides, I have my friend Flynn to help me."

Flynn fluttered a wave, a star struck look in her eyes as she gazed at Luke. Julie gave him a smug smile.

"Shoot, I just remembered I have drill team after school today." Flynn said snapping from her trance-like state. "I'm sorry, Jules." She offered apologetically as the bell rang.

"Looks like you could use my help after all, Jules." Luke smirked, crossing his arms.

"Don't call me that. Only my friends can call me that." She said crossing her arms to mirror him. "I'll see you at three. Don't be late." She warned as she and Flynn made their way toward their last class.

"Three o'clock!" He shouted down the hall after her, his tone full of mirth. "I won't be late!"

Julie ducked her head in embarrassment as nearly every student in the hallway stood watching their interaction. Luke managed to draw attention to himself no matter where he went, while Julie was just trying to fade into the background. This was sure to be an interesting experience.

\-----

Luke sat at the piano in the music room, toying with a few of its keys, when Julie walked in after school.

"Hey, Jules!" He said smiling.

Julie shot him a warning look.

"Sorry. Julie." Luke quickly corrected, scooting over on the piano bench.

He patted the space he created beside him, motioning her over with a jerk of his head. Julie eyed him suspiciously as she walked over.

"Show me that song you were playing yesterday." He said as Julie dropped her bag to the floor, taking the seat beside him.

Her body stiffened, "No, I don't think so." She said softly.

"Why not? It was amazing. Your voice is-" Luke stopped short when he saw the stricken look on Julie's face. "Whoa. Hey, forget I said anything, ok?" Luke said as Julie's chin began to quiver.

The silence hung heavy in the air between the two for a moment.

"So what do we need to work on, boss?" He said giving her a gentle nudge.

Julie sniffled and reached down for her backpack to retrieve her notebook. She stared at it intently in her hands as she admitted, "My mom and I wrote that song together." She cleared her throat. "Before she died last year."

Julie tentatively brought her eyes up to meet Luke's. He sat momentarily dumbstruck at the news. It dawned on him suddenly why Julie had seemed so familiar the other day in Principal Lessa's office. Rumors had swirled around school for weeks about her when her mom died. No one their age had really experienced anything like it before and it sent shock waves through their school. Luke hadn't really known Julie at the time, although the more he thought about her, the more he seemed to remember sharing a handful of classes with her over the years. Either way, he was still sorry for her loss.

"Julie, I-" Luke began.

Julie held up her hand to stop him. "Don't say you're sorry. Please." She turned to look at him. "I don't want anyone's pity."

"I was going to say I think she's a really great song writer." Luke recovered quickly.

Julie quirked her brow, then softened her face into a smile. "She definitely was."

Luke snatched the notebook from her hand suddenly and flipped it open to read over her notes for a moment. He furrowed his brow, "Nope." was all he could think of to say.

"Nope?" Julie replied, a hard look crossing her face.

"None of this is going to work." Luke said with finality as he closed the notebook, setting it on her lap.

"You've got to be kidding me." Julie said indignantly, rising to her feet. She gripped the notebook shaking it. "I worked hard on these ideas!"

"I mean, if you want to put everyone to sleep then..." he trailed off with a shrug.

Julie rolled her eyes. "What amazing ideas do you have that are so much better?"

Luke stood from the piano bench and began to pace the room thoughtfully as he spouted off several different ideas.

"Those are pretty good, I guess." Julie muttered begrudgingly under her breath as she jotted them down on the pages in front of her.

"Luke, we gotta go!"

A panicked voice drew Luke and Julie's attention to the other side of the room from where they were working. They turned to find Reggie and Alex standing in the doorway, eyes darting around, twisting to look behind them at the slightest noise. Both boys looked very guilty and very ready to take flight at a moment's notice.

"What did you do?" Luke asked furrowing his brow, sensing instantly that something was amiss.

"Nothing." Reggie answered a little too quickly while Alex gave a thoughtful expression, accompanied by an odd, high-pitched noise that Luke knew he only made when was trying to think of a cover story.

Luke scoffed, pointing at the two, "You guys are going to get me expelled! It's bad enough I'm stuck planning this dumb show, no thanks to you."

Luke turned suddenly to Julie, an apologetic look on his face as he realized the weight of his words. She waved him off as she packed her things.

"Sorry." He mouthed to her as he grabbed his bag making a quick exit with his friends. 


	4. Chapter 4

"Alright guys, how does pizza sound for dinner tonight? Haven't done that in awhile, huh?"

Julie looked up from her textbook as her dad came into the kitchen while she was finishing up her homework.

"Yeah, but no mushroom!" Julie's brother, Carlos called from upstairs.

"Got it! Extra fungi!" Her dad yelled back, giving her a wink.

Julie gave him a good natured smile, returning her attention to her studies as her dad phoned in the order.

"So how's the Senior Showcase planning going?" He asked as Julie stuffed her textbooks into her backpack.

Julie shrugged, "It's ok I guess. Only six weeks to go and I think Principal Lessa is punishing me."

"How's that?" Her dad leaned over the kitchen counter toward where Julie sat, resting his chin in his hand.

"She's forcing me to co-plan with this senior guy, Luke Patterson. It's some kind of debt he owes society or something."

Her dad cringed playfully, "He's hard to work with, huh?"

"He's always late, and he's very opinionated and stubborn, and it's very annoying."

"Opinionated? Stubborn? Wonder what it's like to deal with that?" Her dad asked, giving her a pointed look.

Julie rolled her eyes, "He said no self-respecting musician does the showcase, which I guess means he doesn't take any of this seriously."

"Well, be that as it may, I think it's nice of Ms. Harrison to give you this chance. After the year we've had, we could use all the second chances we can get."

Julie nodded as she hesitantly admitted, "I sang for the first time the other day."

"That's wonderful, Jules." Her dad replied, eyes glassy with sudden emotion.

"Yeah, it felt pretty good. It's just hard, though, because it reminds me so much of mom."

"That's all the more reason why you should get back at it." Her dad encouraged, giving her hand a squeeze.

"Ms. Harrison is expecting me to perform in the showcase too, and I'm just not sure if I'm there yet."

Her dad offered her a reassuring smile, "I know you'll make your mom, and me, proud no matter what." He said as he went to the cupboard to pull out four plates. "And as a former teenaged boy, go easy on the guy, ok?"

Julie gave him a half-lidded look as she took the plates to set the table. A short while later she and Carlos raced to the door as the doorbell rang. Julie nudged her little brother to the side as they tussled to be the first to open it.

"Alright, you two." Their dad said approaching from behind. "Who's paying for this thing?"

Julie and Carlos pointed at one another as their dad reached to open the door. Julie's eyes widened when she saw Luke standing at their step, pizza in hand.

"Luke!" She exclaimed.

"Julie?" He replied looking just as surprised.

"Carlos!" Her brother said with a smile.

"Ray!" Julie's dad said giving a wave.

"What are you doing here?" Julie asked, cheeks tinged pink.

Luke glanced down at the pizza he held in his hand, quirking his brow when he looked up to meet her eyes. Carlos glanced between the two, a mischievous smirk playing on his lips.

"You're not our normal delivery guy." Ray offered as he handed over the money.

"No sir, he called in sick tonight. I normally just make the pizzas." Luke replied handing over the box with a polite smile.

"Well you can keep the change, Luke, was it?" Ray replied.

"Yes, sir. Thanks, Mr. Molina. Have a good night." Luke said as he turned to leave. "See you Monday, Julie." He offered as he headed down the steps.

"Bye." Julie muttered shutting the door as quickly as possible, and heading for the table without a word.

"Why are you being weird?" Carlos pestered as the three sat down to eat.

"I'm not weird, you're weird." Julie shot back.

"You're both weird. Now let's eat before it gets cold." Their dad admonished.

"So was that the Luke you were just telling me about?" Ray asked after a long silence.

He wiggled his eyebrows playfully at Julie and she felt her face heat with embarrassment. Carlos cackled, earning himself a death stare from his big sister.

"Yes, that's the same Luke." She sighed. "May I be excused? I have some work to finish."

"It's Friday night. Don't you and Flynn have plans?" Her dad asked as she stood from the table.

"No, not tonight."

"Everything ok?" Her dad asked, concern written on his face.

Julie knew what he was worried about. She gave him a good natured smile. "Everything is fine, dad. I just need some time to think." Julie said.

"Think about Luke." Carlos teased under his breath.

Julie shot him another look as she cleared her spot before heading upstairs. Truthfully, she wanted time to think about a song that had begun taking up space in her mind since the day she had sang the song she and her mom had written. Something about that moment had sparked a feeling inside of her again. A feeling that had long been quiet since her mom's death the year before. Julie began to experience the old familiar feeling of chords and melodies running through her head. She had struggled to pay attention in school all week as lyrics coursed through her every thought. She felt alive and inspired for the first time in a very long time and it was exciting. Julie wanted nothing more than to be quiet and alone with her music. 


	5. Chapter 5

"Are you good to meet after school today?" Julie interrupted as she caught up to Luke and his friend Reggie in the hallway Monday morning.

"No can do, Jules." Luke replied, turning back to Reggie to show him something on his phone. The two laughed as they walked on.

"Why not? I didn't think you were done paying off your debt." Julie asked pressing closer to him to get his attention back. "And stop calling me Jules. I told you, only my friends can call me that." She snapped.

"Whoa, what crawled up your butt?" Luke asked as he and Reggie exchanged a knowing look.

"If I remember correctly, you kinda ditched me on Friday right when we were in the middle of something. I think I'm allowed to be a little annoyed." Julie supplied, feeling her shoulders tense.

"Yeah, sorry. That was my fault." Reggie offered apologetically. "I'm Reggie, by the way." He said, perking up to introduce himself.

"Hey." Julie said forcing a half-hearted smile in return. She wasn't in the mood to deal with these two. "Anyway, why can't you help today?" She asked turning back to Luke.

"I gotta work."

"Great, I'll stop in around 4." She said as she walked away without waiting for a reply.

Luke stood speechless at her tenacity.

"She's feisty. I like her." Reggie announced casually to no one in particular.

"She's something." Luke replied as the two headed for class.

\---

"Welcome to Sal's. How many?"

The hostess greeted Julie, barely looking up from her phone when she spoke as Julie walked into the pizza parlor later that afternoon.

The girl that stood behind the hostess stand looked familiar with her fiery red hair and blue eyes. Julie couldn't remember her name, but she was pretty sure they had physics together.

"I'm not here to eat. I need to talk to Luke, please."

This caught the girl's attention. She looked Julie up and down appraisingly, "He's in the back." She said rolling her eyes, motioning over her shoulder with her thumb, then promptly returned to her phone screen.

"Thanks!" Julie offered half heartedly.

She headed toward the back of the restaurant where she knew the kitchen was. She was on a mission, fully prepared to do or say whatever it took to make sure Luke did his part whether he liked it or not.

As she rounded the corner she found him working behind a tall counter that separated the dining room from the kitchen. Luke stood alongside an older man she guessed was the restaurant's namesake, Sal. At least she assumed it was Sal since he looked just like the cartoon featured on the restaurant's menus and advertisements with his signature bushy mustache. The two were engrossed in conversation while they effortlessly tossed and caught pizza dough. It was hypnotic for Julie to watch.

"Luke, what did I tell you about your fan club showing up here?" The older man said as he caught sight of Julie watching nearby.

"Oh, I'm not. He's not-" Julie found herself sputtering a startled defense.

Luke smiled, "Don't worry, Sal. That's Julie. She's president of the we-hate-Luke-club."

"I thought I liked the looks of her." Sal said nudging Luke. "What do you need with this goon, sweetheart?" Sal asked Julie over the noise of the kitchen.

"Luke is supposed to be helping me plan a big school event. I was hoping it would be ok if we talked about it while he worked?" Julie said trying her best to sound innocent and look convincing all at the same time.

"Go wash up and help the lady." Sal ordered Luke. "I know where to find you if we get busy. You hungry, Julie?" Sal called to her as she found a nearby table to sit at.

"Sure!" Julie yelled back as she sat down and began unpacking her things.

Luke emerged moments later from the kitchen. Pieces of his shoulder length brown hair sneaking out from the ponytail he had tucked under his backwards, flour-dusted baseball cap. He sat down across from her and began unbuttoning the top part of his chef coat.

"Are you going to get in trouble for me being here?" Julie asked leaning in conspiratorially.

"Now you're worried about that?" Luke laughed, the corners of his eyes wrinkling as they nearly squinted shut.

"Nah, Sal is an old buddy of my dads. We're cool." He reassured her. "Although, you do make pretty convincing puppy dog eyes"

"I try," Julie smiled back playfully. "Hey, what was Sal talking about earlier? Have girls really come here just to see you?" She went on to ask, surprised by the burning sensation in the pit of her stomach at the thought.

Luke rolled his eyes in response, "So what's the plan?" He asked changing the subject.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about something else first." Julie began, grateful to move on to more important things and away from the strange new feeling that flashed inside her.

As she fished inside a pocket of her backpack, she retrieved a piece of folded paper. She handed it over to Luke and watched as he unfolded and read it. Julie nibbled on her thumbnail waiting for his response.

He glanced up at her briefly before pouring over the page again. "You wrote this?"

"That bad?" She cringed feeling insecure.

"No, Julie. This is really good." He said, his blue-gray eyes sparkling as they met hers.

Julie swallowed the lump in her throat. "The other day at school. That song you heard me play? I haven't sang." Julie paused a moment. "That was the first time I've sang in over a year."

Luke studied her, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Ever since then it's like I can't stop thinking about music. I have this constant beat in my head, and these lyrics," She motioned to the paper in his hands. "Are on a loop, and I can hardly think of anything else, and I didn't know who else to talk to about it. I figured you of all people could understand." Julie rambled, stopping briefly to catch her breath.

"So what are you going to do about it?" Luke asked after a moment.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you're going to sing it right? Perform? You can't let something like this sit on a page."

"I don't know, Luke." Julie felt uneasy at the thought. She knew she was excepted to perform something at the senior showcase, but she wasn't sure she wanted it to be so personal.

"Can I show this to Alex and Reggie? Maybe we could come up with something." Luke offered, his leg bouncing under the table.

"Luke!" Sal shouted from the kitchen.

"Be right back." Luke said bolting to the kitchen.

Julie looked around the dining room for a moment in his absence. It had a dark, dated appearance. The tables were covered with red and white checkered tablecloths. The walls held countless photographs of Sal from over the years with his arm around various people Julie recognized from TV and movies. Some of the pictures appeared to be of family and friends, and one even looked like it might've featured Luke wearing his signature grey beanie while he played a guitar. Julie sat too far away to know for sure.

She and her family had carried out pizza from Sal's more times than she could count in her nearly seventeen years of life. She felt a deep connection to the place even though she and her family rarely set foot inside the restaurant. When her mom had gotten sick, they could always count on two things: her Tia's cooking four days out of the week, and pizza from Sal's every Friday. Realizing Luke had likely been the one cooking for her family suddenly made Julie feel all fuzzy inside.

Luke returned then with two plates in hand. He set one down in front of Julie as he took a seat again. She was surprised to find her slice of pizza exactly how she normally ordered it. She gave Luke a curious look before she took a bite.

"Thank you." She said smiling.

Luke nodded and picked up her page of lyrics. "I'm serious, Julie. Come by Alex's garage one day after school. We can work on this." His leg was bouncing again under the table.

"I'll think about." She said as the two began to eat.

While they talked about ideas for the set, Julie found herself feeling more relaxed around Luke. She felt like she was beginning to see him through new eyes. Instead of the careless, arrogant fool he acted like at school, she saw he had a thoughtful, creative side to him that she recognized in herself too. They still butted heads and disagreed more often than not, but it seemed a very subtle shift had begun to change the way the two treated one another.

"Thanks for the pizza!" Julie called to Sal as she stood to leave a while later. The restaurant had begun to fill with the dinner crowd, and Luke was needed back in the kitchen.

Sal gave her a wave, "Come back anytime, sweetheart!"

Luke walked Julie to the door, "You'll come to Alex's to work on your song, right?" He attempted one last time to convince her.

"I said I'll think about it." She said fighting a smile, unable to deny the enthusiasm she felt radiating from him.

"You want to say yes, come on!" He said waggling his finger teasingly in her face.

Julie swatted his finger away, "Fine." She agreed somewhat begrudgingly. "But it's my song, so what I say goes." She bartered.

Luke held his hands up in innocence, "You're the boss."

"Thanks for your help today." Julie said before she turned to walk away. "And for the record, I don't hate you." She said turning back smiling shyly.

Luke bit his lip and nodded, returning her smile, "Good to know, Jules."

Julie glared, pointing her finger at him, "You know the rules." She said half-teasing, finding she wasn't quite as irritated by him calling her by her nickname. "I didn't say we were friends. I just said I didn't hate you."

Luke laughed as he turned to head back to the kitchen, while Julie headed for home. 


	6. Chapter 6

"Mr. Patterson, how nice of you to join us." Ms. Harrison, the music teacher, mused dryly as Luke stumbled hurriedly onto the charter bus.

Julie did her best to duck her head out of sight behind the seat in front of her while she gathered her thoughts. She couldn't for the life of her figure out why Luke was getting on their now departing bus. The junior and senior students in the music program were on their way to watch the Playtone Symphony perform their annual spring concert that Friday evening after school. Seeing as Luke wasn't in the music program, Julie couldn't understand why he was now making his way down the aisle toward her, eyeing the empty seat on her left. She was also struggling to figure out why the sight of him in a dress shirt and dress pants made her stomach do a somersault.

"Is this seat taken?" Luke asked giving Julie a smile as he stood by in the aisle-way.

"Sure." She said grabbing her things off the space beside her to make room.

The crisp fabric of Luke's shirt sleeve brushed against Julie's arm as he settled in next to her. She fiddled with the screen of her phone trying to find some music to listen to for their long bus ride. Plus it was a way to ignore her new companion's close proximity and the feelings it sent buzzing through her.

"Whatchya listening to?" Luke asked as he leaned over to eye her screen.

Julie pulled the phone back defensively, "Nothing." She replied shortly. "Why are you even here?"

She cringed internally hearing her words come out a little stronger than she intended.

"Nice to see you too." Luke replied sarcastically, giving her a quick sidelong glance. "Principal Lessa found out about the prank Reggie and Alex pulled the other day and blamed me for it." He explained with a roll of his eyes. "She called this field trip a character building experience.” He mocked her words begrudgingly.

"Like you didn't see that coming, huh?" Julie said fighting to hide her smile. "Sounds like she's dead set on torturing you for the rest of your senior year."

"Oh, and that's funny?" Luke replied fighting to hide his own smirk.

"I think you've made Principal Lessa's life pretty miserable these last four years. I'm sure she's enjoying the payback just a little bit." She said holding up her thumb and forefinger with a humorously wide gap between them.

Luke quirked his brow. 

"Plus, you always seem to like being the center of attention anyway. Honestly, it's not surprising you constantly get caught or blamed for stuff." Julie added thoughtfully.

"Ok, Doctor Molina, you seem so sure you have me figured out. What's my deal?" Luke asked folding his arms over his chest.

"I mean, I think for whatever reason you only want people to see you a certain way." She began, while her mind pieced together the few parts of the Luke puzzle she had.

"Go on." He said eyeing her speculatively.

"You have that whole bad-boy rocker vibe going with your don't-care-attitude. You're the loudest kid in class, you argue with the teachers, and you and your friends pull really dumb pranks all the time."

"That's just part of my charm. And those pranks are memorable!" Luke argued.

Julie rolled her eyes, "But you're really smart and super creative, and I don't think a lot of people know that. The only thing anyone seems to care about is how hot you are."

He turned to give her a curious look, "Did you just admit you think I'm hot?"

Julie felt her cheeks burn instantly at the realization of what she'd said. Not saying a word she quickly turned to look out the window.

"High school is just a formality. I've got bigger plans. I only show people what I want them to see." Luke admitted after a moment.

Julie nodded thoughtfully, still looking out the window as the sky darkened around them. 

"And what about you?" Luke asked.

Julie turned to face him again, "What about me?"

"What's your deal? You seem so sure about who I am. What about you?"

"Everyone just knows me as the girl whose mom died." Julie shrugged.

"No, that can't be it." Luke argued. "I've seen you with your music nerd friends. It seems like you're pretty popular."

Julie searched his eyes, surprised to hear he'd been paying attention to her at all.

"I mean, I know you try to blend in, but I've heard you sing and I've seen your music. You really shouldn't hide it." He finished.

Julie wasn't sure what to say to that, so the two fell quiet for a short while after. Luke's leg bounced in the aisle as he looked out the windows.

"Seriously, what are you listening to?" He finally asked. Unable to control himself, he plucked the earbud from Julie's left ear and popped it into his right.

He dodged her hand as she attempted to get her earbud back.

"I didn't take you for a classic rock girl, Jules." Luke said sounding impressed as he continued listening to the song.

"Don't call me Jules, Patterson!" Julie gritted out as she made another attempt to retrieve her earpiece.

"Would you stop? I want to listen." Luke argued as he evaded her again.

"Is being annoying part of your charm too?" She huffed crossing her arms over her chest.

"No, that's a special bonus just for you." He said lightly tapping the tip of her nose with his finger. 

"Alright everyone, we're just about there. Make sure you get your ticket from me as you get off the bus. I'll be waiting just outside the door." Ms. Harrison announced as they pulled into the parking lot of the venue.

Julie stood to smooth the fabric of her yellow dress once the bus stopped. After grabbing her clutch, she looked up to find Luke staring at her. She cleared her throat of the nerves she suddenly felt under his stare.

"Can I have my earbud back, please?" She asked, a small quiver in her voice as she held out her hand.

Luke gave a slight shake of his head as if breaking from his thoughts before handing it back to her. She gave him a tight lipped smile as he moved aside to let her pass.

When Julie stepped off the bus and grabbed her ticket, she was surprised by the beauty of the venue as she walked inside. While her classmates huddled in small groups or pairs taking selfies around the atrium, Julie admired the height of the ceiling, the crystal chandeliers and the grand staircase that filled the space.

 ** _How are you feeling?_** She shot off a quick text to Flynn.

Flynn sent back several green-faced emojis and a couple barfing ones in response.

 ** _Sorry._** Julie sent back with a few crying emojis. **_It's beautiful here!_** She added with a picture of the room.

Their text thread went quiet after that and Julie decided it was best to leave Flynn alone, so she made her way into the auditorium to find herself a seat.

Since the event was intended only for school groups, Julie had her choice of spots within their school's section. Being one of the first to sit down, she carefully chose a seat that was front and center. She always liked to be as close to the music as possible to really feel it. She played around on her phone while she waited, only noticing how full the room had become when the lights dimmed. She startled when she noticed Luke sitting in the seat next to her.

"Seriously?" She hissed.

Luke furrowed his brow holding a finger to his lips before motioning to the stage. Julie rolled her eyes noticing a smirk breaking on Luke's face.

"Can I have the window seat on the way back?" He leaned in to whisper as the performance got underway.

An unexpected tingle traveled up Julie's spine as Luke's mouth hovered briefly near her ear. She shot him a curious look as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Julie gave him a mindless nod, preoccupied by the wave of feelings she was suddenly having about him again. Taking a deep breath, she turned to give her full attention to the performance in front of her.

Julie couldn't leave her seat fast enough once the symphony ended. While she'd tried to be attentive, sitting next to Luke had been more of a distraction than she anticipated. The sweet, woodsy smell of his cologne coupled with his fidgety legs that kept bumping into hers, made it nearly impossible to focus. Not to mention, she couldn't seem to clear her head from the sensation he'd sent jolting up her spine earlier with just the sound of his voice. She hurried wordlessly toward the exit and back toward the bus hoping there was someone new and far less attractive to sit next to on the way back.

Unfortunately, Julie discovered that sitting in the front of the theater meant she was one of the last to board the bus. Plus her trip to the ladies' room before exiting the venue set her further behind, leaving exactly one seat open. Luke sat looking at his phone barely noticing her arrival.

"So what did you think?" She asked after a moment, feeling pressured to fill the silence between them.

"It was ok." Luke said with a shrug, his attention focused on his device.

"What about you?" He asked glancing at her from the corner of his eye.

"I loved it." She beamed. "My mom raised me and my brother on all kinds of music, and that's one of my favorites."

"You surprise me, Molina." Luke said turning to consider her.

"Is that a bad thing?" She challenged.

Luke could barely meet her eyes as he gave her a bashful smile, "No, definitely not."

The two fell into a companionable silence as they each turned to their phones for the ride back. After awhile, Julie felt her eyelids growing heavy. She tried to fight the weight of sleep, but the bus' movement gradually lulled her. She woke awhile later to the gentle shaking of her arm. Lifting her head, Julie's cheeks flamed as she quickly realized she had fallen asleep on Luke's shoulder and he was the one waking her up. She prayed she hadn't drooled on him or snored.

"Sorry." She chuckled bashfully. "I guess all the excitement wore me out."

"Don't worry about it." Luke said brushing it off. "You didn't snore too loud anyway." He winked.

Julie felt heat rise to her cheeks again. She tried to let her hair fall over her face to hide the blush as she stood from her seat and gathered her things. She avoided his eyes as she stepped into the aisle to let him out.

"And I think it's fair I get to call you Jules now." Luke said smugly as he leaned near to her before making his way off the bus.

Julie felt that same warm tingle like before making its way up her spine. "Yeah, that's fair." She grumbled as she made her exit shortly after.


	7. Chapter 7

"No, don't go in that way! You're going to get us killed!"

Julie heard Luke's voice demanding from the other side of the garage door. She had finally mustered up the courage by the middle of the next week to work on the song she'd shown Luke. She had been standing outside of Alex's garage for a few moments wondering whether or not to go in.

"If you were a better commander we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place!" Another voice retorted.

Taking a deep breath, Julie quietly let herself in through the side door. She found Luke and his friends Reggie and Alex sitting in various positions around a very large television, game controllers in hand.

"Reggie, no!" Alex cried before throwing his controller to the ground in frustration.

Luke turned to Reggie with a look that could kill.

Reggie shrugged innocently, "I thought you had my six!"

Julie cleared her throat, tugging at the strap of her backpack as all three guys turned to look at her.

"Hey, Julie!" Reggie greeted her with a smile.

"Hey Julie." Alex said more like a question giving Luke a curious look.

"Alex, this is Julie." Luke explained. "She's the one we've been working on the song for. She's here to jam with us." He said giving Julie a smile.

"Oh, yeah." Alex stood running a hand through his blond hair, "Make yourself at home." He offered motioning to the space around them. Giving it a once-over he quickly bent to gather the snack wrappers the three had left laying around.

"Thanks." Julie replied tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "So how do we do this? I've never written music with anyone but my mom before."

"It'll be fun. Just relax." Luke said as he stood to retrieve his guitar.

Reggie and Alex took that as their cue to get their instruments as well. Julie dropped her bag to the floor and moved closer to the where the guys were set up.

"So Reggie and I put together this little melody I think you might like with it." Luke offered excitedly giving his friend a quick nod as they began to play.

"I know it's your song, so whatever you say goes, but...what do you think?" He asked once they had finished.

Julie stood momentarily awestruck hearing the song come to life, "that was amazing!"

Luke looked pleased with himself as he and Reggie smiled at one another.

"And then Alex will come in with a beat, and you?" Luke said excitedly drawing close to Julie. "Your voice will blow everyone away."

He bit his bottom lip giving her a smile. Julie felt her stomach knot when their eyes met.

"Yeah, that sounds great." She said swallowing hard, fighting the heat that was creeping its way up her neck. "I was thinking a little piano would be good too." She added, stepping over to the nearby keyboard, feeling more confident there.

"I was thinking something like this..." Julie played a few chords as she sang along.

When she finished she saw the three guys exchange a pleased look.

"This is going to be so good." Reggie replied as the four got to work.

———

"What's up with you and Julie?" Alex asked Luke shortly after Julie left the garage later that evening. He shared a knowing look with Reggie.

Luke sat writing in his song notebook. His head shot up, brow furrowed, "What are you talking about?"

Alex fought to hide his smirk, "Nothing. It just seems like maybe there's something going on there."

Luke shook his head, "No, nothing is going on." He said dubiously. 

"Cool, can I ask her out then?" Reggie asked eagerly.

"No!" Luke exclaimed a little too quickly.

Reggie and Alex shared the same knowing look again.

"She's not even your type." Luke defended.

"Sure she is. I like that boho-nerdy thing she has going on." Reggie said picking at a few strings of his bass.

"Please don't ever say boho again." Alex said rolling his eyes.

Reggie shrugged innocently.

"Julie is off limits." Luke said simply, throwing him a pointed look before returning to his notebook. Although now the words on the page just looked like a jumble of letters and his mind was reeling with the thoughts of what his friends had said.

\------

"So what are you going to do for the showcase?"

Julie's voice broke Luke from his thoughts. He found her looking at him expectantly while the two sat across from one another at the coffee table in her living room the next afternoon.

"Huh?" He asked dumbly, feeling caught off guard. He watched Julie as she spoke, but hadn't heard a word.

Luke couldn't seem to take his mind off of what Alex had said the night before about something going on between him and Julie.

Sure, he'd found himself looking forward to their after school meetings and catching up with her in the halls between classes, but that was probably just because they had a lot in common. He liked talking with her about music and stuff. Plus, she was funny and smart, and cute- in a dorky way. It was like lately Julie Molina had gone from a grainy, black-and-white photo to a 3D movie in his mind. Even though she wasn't his usual type, he liked that she didn't throw herself at him, and she wasn't afraid to disagree or challenge him. She was definitely different from the other girls at school.

She also smelled really good. Like flowers and clean laundry. But that didn't mean there was something more going on, did it?

Julie smirked at him before she went back to coloring the flier she was working on. "I asked about what you were going to do for the showcase."

Luke barked a laugh, "I told you before, Sunset Curve does not do showcases."

"Why not?" Julie asked indignantly, her glasses slipping down her nose as her head shot up.

"Because, Sunset Curve is going to be legendary. We can't waste time playing at a school show." Luke laid back on the floor, stretching his legs out.

"So where do you play if you're too good for school?" Julie asked as she sat up on her knees, leaning over the table to eye him curiously.

"Here and there." Luke said vaguely, bringing his hands behind his head while he stared at the ceiling.

"Uh huh." Julie replied giving him a wry smile.

"We're actually playing at The Loft this Saturday night. You should come!" He said sitting up quickly to find his face so close to Julie's he noticed a constellation of freckles across her nose.

"I'll have to ask my dad, but it should be fun, I guess." Julie replied as she sat back on her heels, gathering her art supplies from the table and stuffing them back in their case.

"It'll be fun, you guess?" Luke asked incredulously. "It's gonna be epic. Rumor has it there will be some industry guys there." He went on, raising his eyebrows playfully at her.

Julie smiled, "That'll be great for you guys. I'll definitely let you know by tomorrow."

Luke gave her a nod and hesitated for a moment wondering if he should ask her to come to their rehearsal, but for some reason he had suddenly lost his nerve.

"Julie!" Flynn exclaimed, barreling in the house unannounced. "Hey Luke." She said pausing to give him a flirty wink.

Luke waved and began packing up his own things from the table, realizing he needed to get to Alex's for practice.

"Jules you will never guess what I just heard." Flynn continued as she kneeled down beside Julie. "Carrie is throwing one of her massive parties tomorrow night, and basically everyone is invited. Including Nick."

"Wait, I thought they broke up?" Julie replied seeming eager to hear the news.

"Who's Nick?" Luke piped in as he watched the two, wondering what they were so excited about. 

"They did, but like, you know how Carrie is." Flynn said rolling her eyes paying no attention to Luke.

"Who's Nick?" Luke asked again feeling a pang of annoyance at being ignored.

"He's just a guy at school." Julie offered flippantly, turning her attention back to Flynn.

"He's not just a guy." Flynn interjected. "He's like the sweetest, best looking, now most-eligible, guy in our class. I'm trying to get my girl hooked up." She smiled.

"Got it." Luke replied feeling a sudden tightness in his chest. "I'll leave you to your scheming." He said as he hurriedly gathered the rest of his things, not really wanting to hang around and watch as Julie got excited over the thought of some guy named Nick.

The girls continued chatting excitedly with one another barely noticing when Luke left.


	8. Chapter 8

"So are you coming tomorrow?" Luke greeted Julie the next day after school as she stood at her locker.

"Coming where?" Julie asked feeling panicked that she'd forgotten something important.

"Sunset Curve is performing tomorrow night at The Loft, remember?" He said. "Maybe you could pop by Alex's garage later today to hear our rehearsal? There's a song I wanted you to listen to. I'm not sure if we should put it on the set list or not."

"Oh, yeah. I think I can-" She began as she looked over his shoulder distractedly. "Shoot!" She exclaimed looking down at her feet, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"What's up?" Luke asked glancing behind him to see what got Julie spooked. "Seriously?" He said rolling his eyes turning back to her, a tired expression on his face.

"Hey, Nick!" Julie smiled, her cheeks tinging pink. She side stepped Luke as Nick drew near. She needlessly tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Hey Julie, you going to Carrie's tonight?" Nick asked returning her smile.

"Um yeah, Flynn mentioned something about a party." She said with a shrug, looking down at her feet then back up to him.

"Cool. I'll see you there?"

"Yeah, definitely." Julie replied with a giggle.

She stood there momentarily stunned watching Nick walk away.

"Seriously?" Luke's voice broke her from her thoughts. "Him?" He said giving her an incredulous look.

Julie scoffed and rolled her eyes. "What's it matter to you?"

"Just wondering what's so great about him that's got you all giggly." Luke replied batting his eyelashes playfully.

"Why, is Lukey jealous?" Julie teased as she went to shut her locker.

"Ha! Of that kid? Hardly." He said puffing up his chest ever so slightly.

The two headed down the hall on their way out of school.

"So I guess that means you won't be making it to the rehearsal tonight?" Luke asked trying to keep the disappointment he felt out of his voice.

Julie cringed regretfully, "Probably not, but I'm definitely coming to the show on Saturday."

Luke shrugged, "Sounds good. We go on around nine."

"Nine. Got it." Julie confirmed.

The two stood for a moment. Julie rubbed her arm while Luke fidgeted with the gray beanie he wore on his head, "Have fun tonight, I guess." Luke offered half-heartedly.

Julie gave him a nod of thanks as the two went their separate ways. 

\-----

"Julie, you look amazing!" Flynn gushed when she walked into Julie's room later that night.

Julie looked down at the light pink dress she had picked to wear. It had once belonged to her mom, and she always felt beautiful and confident in her mom's clothes. She had pulled back part of her curly black hair, gave her eyelashes a few swipes of mascara, and even attempted to put on a bit of eyeliner.

"Nick won't be able to keep his eyes off you...and neither will Luke." Flynn said with a sneaky smile.

"Luke?" Julie said turning from the mirror to face her friend.

"Don't even act like you don't see the way he looks at you, or how you look at him."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Julie said turning back to the mirror to fix a part of her hair.

"He's one of the hottest guys in school, Jules! It could be worse."

"He's a really talented musician."

"And?"

"And we work really well together."

"And?"

"And he's not interested in me as more than a friend. Plus he probably won't even be there. His band has rehearsals for that show we're going to tomorrow night."

"Ok." Flynn said with a roll of her eyes. "Well, don't be surprised when he shows up and I have to tell you 'I told you so'."

"Sure, Flynn. I'll keep that in mind." Julie replied dismissively.

Flynn walked over to her then hooking their arms together as both girls gave themselves one last look in the mirror before heading out the door. 


	9. Chapter 9

The music was pumping as the girls walked into Carrie's palatial beachside mansion. Her dad had been a popular rock musician from back in the day. (A fact she liked to throw around to anyone that would listen long enough). While he was usually busy trying to stay relevant, he often left Carrie unattended, which ultimately led to big, loud parties at least once a month.

The house was crowded with a lot of people Julie didn't recognize, which made her feel out of place. She really wasn't one for parties, preferring to hang out in the comfort of her own home with a small group of friends.

"Let's get something to drink." Flynn suggested for something to do, and the girls headed for the kitchen.

Julie grabbed a bottle of water and scanned the crowd for a familiar face as she took a sip.

"Hey Molina." A voice greeted her from behind.

Julie nearly spit her mouthful of water out when she turned and saw Nick there.

"Nick, hey!" She sputtered as she tried to contain her choking coughs.

"Hey, Nick." Flynn greeted him with a smile. "Nice to see you. Doesn't Julie look great tonight?" She asked getting straight to the point.

Julie shot her a deadly look.

"She does." Nick agreed looking Julie over, smile plastered on his face.

"You two should totally go talk where it's quiet." Flynn suggested and wasted no time shoving them out of the kitchen.

They smiled awkwardly at one another and walked out onto the back patio. Julie was grateful to find there were far less people here, and the only noise came from the muffled music inside and the waves of the ocean crashing to shore. Nick motioned to a small empty bench where they could sit down. Julie tucked her hands under her thighs and looked around, not sure what to say.

"Nice night." Nick began with a little chuckle.

"Yeah." Julie agreed, giving him a quick smile. She brought her hands to her lap and picked nervously at her nail polish.

"How'd you do on Mr. Suarez's quiz?" Nick asked after a moment.

"Ok, I guess. Number three really got me." Julie admitted.

"Nick?" A shrill female voice pierced the air suddenly causing them both to jump.

They turned to find Nick's ex-girlfriend, and the party's host, Carrie, eyeing them with disgust.

"Hey, Carrie." Nick greeted her, swallowing hard.

"Hey Julie." Carrie said flippantly, ignoring Nick's greeting as she turned to sit down between the two.

Julie quickly scooted over to avoid being sat on, being pushed further to the side as Carrie settled in. Just before she tipped off the edge of her seat, she felt two strong hands gripping her arms to steady her from behind. She turned her head to find Luke smirking at her.

"Easy there, Jules."

"Luke, hey." Julie said surprised to see him there. She stood to her feet and turned to face him.

"Hey" He replied, sliding his hands down her arms sending a warm shiver through her.

"What are you doing here?" Julie asked feeling her heart flutter excitedly.

"Nice to see you too." He said giving her a wink. "You know, I think your boy may be a little preoccupied." Luke said rolling his eyes after glancing over her shoulder at Nick and Carrie.

Curious, Julie turned to see Carrie making every attempt to hold Nick's interest by whatever means necessary. She turned back giving Luke a horrified look.

"Come on." He chuckled as he took her hand.

Julie was surprised by the warmth of his calloused hand on hers as he led her to the patio steps and down toward the beach.

"I didn't think you'd be here tonight. Too busy with rehearsals, or whatever." Julie remarked trying to tamper the excitement she felt coursing through her.

Luke shrugged, "We took a little break. I figured I'd see what all the hype was about."

The two found a spot in the sand near the water. Luke let go of her hand and sat down, Julie followed suit. A gust of cool ocean breeze sent a chill down her spine. She hugged her legs to her chest, folding her arms over each other to warm herself. They sat in companionable silence for a moment watching the waves roll to shore. Julie caught Luke moving out of the corner of her eye. When she turned her head to see what he was doing, she found herself suddenly enveloped in the warmth of his flannel jacket. Julie gave him a shy smile as she pulled the fabric tighter around her. Her head swam as she caught the familiar scent of his cologne lingering on the collar.

"Thanks" she offered simply.

Luke nodded his head and turned to look out at the waves again. Julie took the opportunity to drink in the sight of him in the glow of the moonlight. Thinking about Luke left her feeling ready to throw off the flannel jacket he'd just lent her. She had a newfound appreciation for the well-defined curves of his arm muscles and the shadow of stubble on his square jawline. She wondered what it would feel like to card her fingers through his wavy brown hair as it blew in the breeze. 

"Julie?" Luke asked, his eyes still on the horizon.

She snapped from her daydream, feeling caught, "Yeah?" She said turning her face suddenly to look at the water, pretending like she had been doing it the entire time.

"I um...wanted to tell you that..." he trailed off as they turned to look at one another. Luke chuckled nervously. "Never mind."

Julie deflated. "Oh, ok." She said facing forward once again.

Luke cleared his throat, "Actually, um...You look really pretty tonight."

Julie looked at him from the corner of her eye finding his attention back on her. She turned her head slowly to face him, searching his eyes. She felt butterflies erupt in her stomach at the sight of him looking gently at her.

"Thanks." She said finally managing to find her voice.

"There's something else," Luke began again.

"Julie! There you are. I've been texting you for the last twenty minutes. What are you-" Flynn's voice called out over the crashing of the waves. "Oh." She said finally getting close enough to see that Julie was rightfully preoccupied.

"Hey, Luke." Flynn offered sheepishly.

"Hi, Flynn." Luke greeted her, annoyance flashing in his eyes.

The three said nothing for a moment. Luke glanced at his watch, "I've gotta get back to rehearsals. Big day tomorrow." He said as he stood to brush himself off quickly. "Goodnight, ladies." He said with a small bow before turning to leave.

"Julie, I am so sorry!" Flynn conceded as she took a seat next to Julie in the sand.

"It's fine." Julie said with a wave of her hand.

The two sat quietly for a moment.

"What were you guys talking about?" Flynn asked excitedly.

"Nothing really. He told me I look pretty tonight."

"First of all, I told you so." Flynn replied smugly, then her eyes softened as she touched a hand to her heart, "And he gave you his jacket." She swooned.

Julie rolled her eyes, "Well it is pretty chilly out here." She admitted as she stood to dust the sand from her dress.

"Yeah, and this party got pretty lame. Popcorn and movies at my house?" Flynn offered as she stood alongside Julie.

The two nodded at one another in unspoken agreement before turning to head for home. 


	10. Chapter 10

"Alright everyone, our last act up for tonight, a crowd favorite-Sunset Curve!" A man at the microphone onstage announced before the room burst into cheers and applause.

Julie and Flynn held each other's hands tightly as they squeezed through the throng of people, trying not to get separated while they made their way closer to the stage. Julie looked to the stage to find Alex counting off with his drumsticks as the band quickly broke into an upbeat rock song at his cue. The crowd erupted again and began to sing along with Luke and Reggie. 

Julie and Flynn settled into a spot close enough to see the performance, but not so close that they would be pushed and shoved by the mass of women there.

"They're really good!" Flynn shouted over the noise into Julie's ear.

"I know! I had no idea!" Julie shouted back.

As the song ended, the crowd cheered. Luke smiled and approached the microphone, "Thank you all for coming out tonight. I'm Luke, and we're Sunset Curve."

A few of the women up front cat-called and whistled to the guys. Reggie and Luke exchanged a pleased look just before they slammed into another song.

"I have to pee!" Flynn announced. "I'll be back!"

Before Julie could say anything, Flynn was gone. She stood awkwardly by herself for a moment until she got caught up in the music once again. As the song came to an end, Luke approached the microphone once more, scanning the crowd as he spoke.

"This next one is a little different sound for us." He began as his eyes seemed to settle on Julie.

He shielded his eyes from the lights for a moment, squinting in her direction. His mouth broke into a wide grin as he continued, "It's more of a ballad, but we think you all will like it. It's called 'Unexpected'."

Luke quickly switched from his electric guitar to an acoustic, sharing a brief word with Reggie who looked in Julie's direction before walking to his own microphone. Alex gave the two a nod as the melody began. Luke began to sing in a soft sweet way that took Julie by surprise, especially coming from a guy that gave off hard rock vibes. His eyes seemed to lock on hers as Reggie and Alex joined in adding depth and beauty to the song. It was almost as if Luke was singing it to her, for her, about her. 

Julie's heart beat wildly as she got lost in the song, jumping when Flynn made it back to her side by the end of it.

"Whoa, you ok?" Her friend giggled.

"Uh, yeah." Julie said swallowing hard. "Is it hot in here? I feel hot." She said frantically fanning her hand at her face.

"I guess. You want to get some water?" Flynn suggested.

Julie nodded and they made their way out of the crowd. They finished watching the rest of the show from the side of the stage where Julie felt like she could gather her thoughts in the dark. Maybe she was just overthinking everything. There's no way that song was about her. There was no way Luke had any interest in her at all. He seemed content to leave her in the friend zone, so she knew it was silly to let hope creep in. Especially since he was a senior and was clearly destined for stardom based on the performance she had just witnessed.

After the show, she and Flynn slowly pushed their way through the departing crowd toward the exit.

"Julie!" She heard her name called above the din. "Jules, wait up!"

She turned to find Luke making his way toward her, trying his best to quickly avoid the groping hands, back pats and attempts at conversation.

"You made it!" He exclaimed breathlessly, a wide smile on his face that nearly pinched his eyes shut.

"You guys are amazing!" Flynn offered excitedly. "Like, really amazing!"

"Thanks, Flynn." Luke replied, his eyes glued to Julie. "What did you think?" He asked her.

"You guys have a great sound. I really liked it." She said feeling bashful under his stare.

"I'm glad you came. Did you want to-?" Luke began before he was interrupted by a sharply dressed man that had approached the three.

"Luke Patterson?" The man asked eyeing Luke curiously.

Julie studied the confident stranger thinking he looked like he'd be more at home behind a large executive's desk than here among the casual crowd.

"Yeah, I'm Luke." He said turning to face him.

"Caleb Covington," he introduced himself holding out a business card to Luke. "With Hollywood Records. I really liked your sound. Can we talk?"

Luke stood unspeaking reaching for the business card as if on autopilot.

"He'd love to." Julie supplied when she saw Luke was completely dumbstruck.

"Yes, I'd love to." He said finally, pulling his beanie from his head and gripping it in his hands. "The guys are around back. We can talk there?"

Caleb gave a nod and motioned for Luke to lead the way. As they headed backstage, Luke turned quickly to give Julie a panic-stricken look. She flashed him the biggest smile she could muster, giving him two thumbs up just before he and Caleb were lost in the residual crowd.

"Wow, I can't believe that just happened!" Julie remarked feeling giddy.

"I know, right! Did you see how he was looking at you?" Flynn asked rounding on Julie, stopping her in her tracks.

Julie rolled her eyes stepping deftly around Flynn, continuing toward the exit. 

"I meant the fact that we might've just seen Luke get his big break. Besides that, we're friends, Flynn. He was just happy to see me."

"Jules, _we're_ friends, and you better believe I'm _never_ going to look at you like he did!" Flynn exclaimed making Julie laugh.

"That's different." Julie argued half-heartedly, wondering if there really could be something more there with him. All she knew for certain was that after that ballad she'd heard tonight, she wasn't certain about anything anymore.

\------

The sound of her phone buzzing pulled Julie from her sleep. She pawed around on her nightstand in her groggy state searching for it. The screen lit with several texts from Luke. She sat up to read them while they poured in one after the other:

_**That guy wants to sign us!** _

_**I know it's super late** _

_**Sorry.** _

_**I had to tell someone** _

_**Hope I didn't wake you up** _

_**Thanks again for coming tonight** _

Julie smiled to herself as she could sense his excitement. 

_**That's amazing! You're totally allowed to wake me up for that!**_ She replied.

_**He said he really liked the ballad.**_ _ **That song of yours inspired me to write my own.**_ Luke typed back.

**_That's cool! Happy to help_ 😊**Julie sent. Her phone went quiet for a moment.

_**Jules?**_ Luke's text came in just after Julie laid back down, thinking they were done.

_**Yeah?** _

_**Y** **ou make me a better writer.**_ He admitted.

Julie's heart beat wildly at the sight of his words. That was a really powerful thing to say, and she felt clueless about how to respond in a way that let him know how she felt too.

_**I think we make each other better.**_ She finally responded after typing and deleting several alternatives. She quickly sent her next text to try and lighten the mood.

_**So what's the plan now, rockstar?** _

Luke responded back immediately with the details of his meeting with Caleb and the band's plans to go over a contract with Hollywood Records. Julie was buzzing with excitement right along with him. The two continued texting back and forth into the early hours of the morning until Julie fell asleep with her phone in her hand. 


	11. Chapter 11

Julie stood humming the melody to the ballad Luke had sung at Saturday's show as she filed her books back in her locker between classes Monday morning. Their late night texting from the weekend was still fresh in her mind. The thought of it left her feeling dizzy with excitement.

"Hey, Julie." Nick greeted her as she closed her locker door.

"Hi, Nick." Julie replied feeling a quick pang of disappointment at the sight of him.

Nick rubbed the back of his neck before he asked, "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"I wanted to apologize for what happened Friday night at the party."

The mention of it sent thoughts of his and Carrie's impromptu make out session through Julie's mind, coupled with a strong feeling of discomfort.

She waved off his apology, "It's no big deal. I know you and Carrie have history."

"Yeah, well we broke up and I was there because I wanted to spend time with you."

"Oh." She blinked at his admission remembering how quickly she'd been brushed aside and seemingly forgotten.

"Can I make it up to you? Can we please try again? I'm really sorry." He gave her a pleading look.

Julie's head was saying yes, but her heart was having second thoughts. She had had a crush on Nick from the time they were in middle school, and his asking her out should've been life-altering great news. Except, she couldn't fight the fact that lately she'd started having serious feelings for Luke. Not to mention Nick's already questionable behavior toward her.

"Sure, I guess we could try again." Julie said going against her better judgement. She gave him a small reassuring smile.

"Really?" He asked. His eyes lighting up. "Are you free on Saturday?"

"Saturday?" She mentally scanned her social calendar which was very often empty except for a standing hang out with Flynn. "Saturday sounds great."

Nick smiled, "Great! Can I walk you to class?" He offered.

Julie gave him a nod as the two headed off. She was quickly relieved to find it easier to talk with him today than it had been at the party. Although, it wasn't like being with Luke who she could effortlessly talk to for hours.

As they walked, Julie's mind began to wander while Nick was telling her something about his Spanish test. She mentally shook herself trying to stay focused on their conversation, even though her brain immediately went back to thoughts of Luke. She couldn't help but wonder what he would think of this new development she'd had with Nick. Except that she had to reminder herself that Luke was just a friend, so she wasn't really sure why it mattered what he thought anyway. Maybe it was better if she didn't say anything at all? Though guilt swept through her at the notion.

She and Luke had been spending a lot of time with one another lately. They said it was in preparation for the senior showcase, even though less and less of their time had actually been spent working on it. Instead, they talked about everything else together. Recently, Julie had even started opening up to him about her mom. Luke was a really good listener, and even better at making her laugh. Although, he was often very serious and thoughtful too-nothing like the person he pretended to be at school. Julie couldn't help but feel like that meant something for him to show her his true self. Like a secret meant just for her.

"You ok?" Nick asked breaking Julie from her thoughts.

"Yeah, sorry. I was thinking about some stuff I have to take care of after school." She covered.

"Gotchya," He replied. "I have lacrosse after school, but I'll text you later?"

Julie swallowed hard and gave him a nod before she headed into her class. The feeling of disappointment was creeping in on her again. She wondered what was wrong with her. She should be way more excited that Nick asked her out. She needed to talk to Flynn. She'd know exactly how to break her from her funk.

As she walked from class later she caught sight of Luke. Her stomach twisted in knots. She wasn't ready to face him yet so she ducked her head and scurried down the hall to avoid any interaction with him. She ran into Flynn along the way as she headed back to her locker.

"That's great news. Why aren't you more excited?" Flynn asked giving her a critical look.

"I don't know. After what happened with Nick at the party on Friday, and then texting Luke all night Saturday after the show, I just feel...ugh. I feel like I'm in a confused funk." Julie sighed, gently banging her forehead on her locker.

"Two of the hottest guys in school like you. I'm still not seeing the problem here." Flynn said quirking her brow.

Julie pulled the flannel Luke had lent her on the beach Friday from her backpack. "It's stupid, I know, but I'm really starting to like Luke. I know there's no way he likes me back and I should just give Nick a chance since he's actually made an effort to ask me out. It's just, I don't know..." She said trailing off with a shrug.

"First of all, Luke should be so lucky to be liked by you. Second, I'm like 99.9% sure he does have a thing for you, but it's his own fault for not realizing it sooner and making a move. Nick has. You should definitely give him a chance, Jules. You've waited for this moment for so long!" Flynn smiled encouragingly.

"What have you been waiting for?" Luke asked taking both girls by surprise.

"Nothing!" Julie practically shouted, her eyes wide.

"Nick finally asked Julie out." Flynn announced smugly, crossing her arms over her chest as if to challenge Luke.

Julie shot her a look before turning back to face him. This wasn't how she wanted him to find out. She certainly didn't want to throw it in his face. 

Luke suddenly looked like he'd been punched in the gut. He recovered quickly giving her a tight smile. The three stood unspeaking for a moment until Flynn made an excuse to go, leaving Julie and Luke standing in awkward silence.

"I brought back your flannel." Julie said breaking the tension.

Luke gave her a nod, brushing his hand against hers as he reached for it back. The two locked eyes, and Julie wondered if he felt the same spark she did at their touch.

"Is that why you've been avoiding me all day? Too busy with what's-his-face?" Luke asked bitterly. "I can't believe you're going on a date with that guy. After what he did at the party on Friday?"

"His name is Nick, not 'that guy' or 'what's-his-face'. And yes, I'm really going on a date with him. He apologized for all that stuff from Friday." Julie replied feeling defensive.

"Is that all it takes? I thought you were more self-respecting than that." Luke threw back.

"Don't pretend like you know so much about me, Luke." Julie said. 

She thought she caught a hurt look flash across his face.

"I know a lot more about you than you think." He replied stubbornly.

Julie wondered what he meant by that, hoping maybe his sudden attitude came from caring about her as more than a friend. She quickly brushed her hope aside though, feeling more annoyed with him than anything.

"Are you ready to get to work?" She ground out wanting to change the subject. "We have to make sure we have what we need for the fundraiser at Thursday's basketball game."

"Actually, I'm not feeling that great, I think I'm going to head home. We'll talk later." Luke snapped, turning to walk away.

"Luke!" Julie called after him feeling overwhelmed by sudden guilt.

Luke ignored her though, quickly disappearing down the hall. 


	12. Chapter 12

Luke did his best to avoid Julie around school after their dismal conversation the day before. He was grateful that it wasn't all that hard to do since the next couple of days were going to be filled with meetings at Hollywood Records. Julie had sent a clear message that they were only friends, so he tried not to let his feelings for her cloud his mind or mood now that he was going after his dream. He still couldn't believe the opportunity the band had been given. In some ways, it seemed too good to be true.

"Can you guys believe this?" Luke asked Reggie and Alex after Caleb left them briefly to explore the recording studio on their own.

"Yeah, it's real great." Reggie replied sarcastically.

Luke shot him a look, "Why'd you say it like that? I thought you'd be way more excited." He turned to look at Alex to gauge his reaction, finding him just as sullen. "What's with you two?"

"I guess this would be pretty amazing if we were apart of the Luke Show." Alex offered while he aimlessly walked around the studio.

Luke balked, "We're Sunset Curve. What do you mean 'The Luke Show'?"

"Dude, all we've heard for the last two days is how they're going to feature _you_ in this song or that song. And how they're going to put _you_ on the cover of whatever magazine." Alex shot back, stopping to give Luke a hard look.

"I'm the lead singer!" Luke argued.

"Yeah, but we're a group. We're in this together, man." Reggie replied.

"You guys, we're about to sit down and sign a recording contract. You're telling me you're going to let a couple songs and a magazine cover change that?" Luke threw his hands up in exasperation.

"That's how it starts anyway." Reggie muttered with a roll of his eyes.

"Unbelievable!" Luke scoffed, and adjusted the beanie on his head.

Alex and Reggie stood unspeaking.

"What do you guys want? How do we make this work?" Luke asked after he stewed silently for a moment, arms folded across his chest.

They shrugged, refusing to meet his eyes.

"So boys, what do you think?" Caleb asked with a clap of his hands as he came back into the studio. The eager look he wore quickly fell from his face as he undoubtedly felt the tension in the room.

"It's great." Alex offered half-heartedly.

"Yeah, really great." Reggie agreed in the same tone.

Both boys looked pointedly at Luke. He felt completely deflated under their stare. He wasn't sure what to do here. Part of him felt like they were being unreasonably selfish jerks. The other part of him knew they wanted this just as bad as him. It had been their dream ever since they'd formed the band in sixth grade. Luke knew it wasn't fair to make them compromise.

"Feels like maybe we need to table our discussions for today." Caleb suggested, his eyes volleying between Luke, Reggie and Alex. "Why don't you boys step out and get some fresh air."

"Great idea." Alex agreed immediately, bolting from the room with Reggie at his side.

Luke turned to join them, but stopped at the feel of Caleb's hand on his shoulder, "I think I'm reading this right when I say it's probably best you let them go for now." He said gently.

Luke nodded, "They think this is all about me. Like your label doesn't want anything to do with them."

"Luke, I'd be lying if I said they were wrong." Caleb squeezed his shoulder. "You're a star. You've got the looks, the vocal talent, and the way you play the guitar? One of a kind." He gave him a wink.

"Yeah, but we're a band. I won't do this without them." Luke explained, jerking back from Caleb's grasp. An uneasy feeling was creeping up inside of him.

"I hear you." Caleb said gently, holding up his hands. "You boys have real talent. I'll give you that." He steepled his fingers, giving Luke a thoughtful look. "Listen, you three talk about it, sleep on it. This is a major life decision. Come back Thursday and we'll discuss, ok?"

Something in the back of Luke's mind told him Thursday had been reserved for some other reason, but he couldn't seem to remember in that moment. He gave Caleb a nod of agreement before he left to think over how to mend whatever bridge he'd started burning with his two best friends.

 ** _Are you feeling ok? Haven't seen you around school much this week..._** Julie's text buzzed on Luke's phone the next day.

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, remembering that he was making a real mess of things with her too. He wanted to tell her he was giving her space since he didn't want to be around her and what's-his-face, or hear her and Flynn talking about him either. The thought gave him a headache.

He had never been the jealous type, but when it came to Julie, he suddenly wanted nothing more than to win her over. For whatever dumb reason he couldn't get up the courage to tell her how he felt. It was probably because he'd never felt this way about anyone before. It was intense and weird, but he liked it.

It didn't matter now though, he'd missed his chance. She was going on a date with another guy. Even after he thought he'd pretty much spelled out his feelings for her with that ballad he'd wrote (Reggie and Alex had teased him relentlessly about that song for days). So either she didn't get it, or didn't want to, and was probably perfectly happy to keep him in the dreaded friend zone no matter what.

 ** _I'm fine_** _,_ he sent back _._

Then added a moment later _:_ ** _Been busy at the record label the last couple of days_** _,_ before he got out of his jeep in front of Alex's garage that afternoon.

Luke had spent the entire night before ruminating about what to say to Alex and Reggie. His stomach twisted with nerves. They disagreed with one another all the time, usually over stupid stuff, but this was the first time the three had really fought. He'd known Reggie and Alex since elementary school, and they'd become more like brothers over the years. Luke wasn't sure how to handle any of this, but he was determined to make things right.

Walking into the garage he found Alex sitting at his drum set while Reggie had sprawled out on the futon. Neither looked up or acknowledged him when he came in. Luke flopped down in the chair next to Reggie.

"This sucks." Luke offered after what felt like an eternity of silence.

"Yep." Alex agreed.

"Totally." Reggie piped in.

"We're happy for you though." Alex began.

"No man, screw that!" Luke interrupted. "I told Caleb, we're a band. We do this together." He stood and began pacing the floor thoughtfully. "Sunset Curve doesn't need to settle!"

Reggie sat up from the couch and exchanged a look with Alex. "What are you saying?" He asked.

Luke paced a few more times before he announced, "I'm saying, we go back there tomorrow and set things straight for all of us, or we walk away."

"Yeah, but what if this is our only chance?" Alex piped in.

Luke stopped in the middle of the room looking between Alex and Reggie. "You guys, you're like brothers to me. You annoy the crap out of me sometimes, but no music is worth making unless we're doing it together. No regrets."

"We can always keep posting our stuff online like we have been." Reggie suggested with a shrug. "It's gotten us a pretty good fan base so far."

Luke felt himself relax sensing that things were righting themselves with his friends, "Ok, so we have a solid Plan B if we need it."

"Right!" Alex agreed.

"Let's get to work." Reggie said, a wide smile spreading across his face.


	13. Chapter 13

Julie checked her phone for what felt like the millionth time, with still no word from Luke. Besides being worried, she tried to push aside her feelings of anger and disappointment as she sat alone at the table outside of the gym that Thursday afternoon. The basketball game behind her was well underway, and the team was winning by the sounds of it.

She had called in some of her friends as reinforcements earlier to help her with the food and beverage sales she was doing at the game to earn some last minute funds for the senior showcase. It had proved to be a very profitable idea of Luke's, but he was nowhere to be seen. Just when Julie thought he'd gotten better about remembering his commitments, better about remembering things that mattered to her, he turned around and pulled the ultimate brush off.

 _ **Where. Are. You???? I could REALLY use your help here!**_ Julie texted him for a fifth time. Each word holding more impatience than the last. She was met with continued silence.

Julie stood from her seat in a huff and went to poke her head in the gym to check the scoreboard. The game was nearly over, so she decided it was best to start cleaning up. Even though there wasn't much that needed to be packed, she was still dreading the walk home with the left overs.

Hearing the final buzzer and the roar of the fans awhile later, she knew the game was over. Julie waited for the crowd to thin before she folded up the tables and chair she had been using. She knew she'd make quite the spectacle lugging them back to the storage closet being as petite as she was. The fewer people that saw it, the better. 

As she closed and locked the storage closet behind her, Julie heard the hard footfalls of someone running toward the gym. When she turned around, every muscle in her body tensed at the sight of a very frazzled Luke.

"Julie!" He called, running toward her. "Jules, I am so sorry." He began.

She felt her blood boil, wanting to give him a piece of her mind right then and there. Instead she walked past him unspeaking, eyes forward, jaw set in stubborn reply.

"Ok, that's fair. I wouldn't want to talk to me either." He said following behind her. "At least let me give you a ride home!" Luke bartered, bending over to help Julie while she struggled to pick up and wrap her arms around the enormous box she needed to take home.

Julie dutifully ignored him as she made her way from the gymnasium to the outside.

"Come on, Julie." Luke pleaded as he jogged to keep up with her. "I know I screwed up. Again. Let me help you." He huffed as he went to take the box from her arms.

Julie held strong, pulling it from his grasp.

"Why are you so stubborn!" He shouted throwing his hands in the air.

"Why are you so— ugh!" Julie growled feeling at a loss for words to express her myriad emotions.

"You're going to walk all the way home carrying that giant box?" Luke called after her as she stalked off across the parking lot.

"It's better than being around you!" She shouted back over her shoulder.

She scoffed to herself when she saw Luke climb into his jeep and drive off in the opposite direction. Julie knew guilt must've gotten the better of him because he turned back around almost immediately. He pulled up beside her, slowing to a roll to keep up with her while she lumbered along the sidewalk. He rolled down his passenger-side window and began to say something as Julie shifted the large box around her tiny frame to get a better hold of it. Much to her humiliation, she lost her grip, and the contents of the container spilled all over as it hit the sidewalk.

Luke immediately threw the vehicle in park, and jumped out to help her. Julie wordlessly snatched the items from his hands, quickly repacking it all before folding the box lid to avoid another disaster. As she rose to her feet, Luke grabbed the box and threw it in his trunk before she had a chance to protest. She stood on the sidewalk with her arms crossed, looking anywhere but Luke as he came to stand in front of her.

"Ok, I get it. You're mad." He began gently.

Julie shot him a look that could kill.

"Ok, more than mad. Just please get in so I can take you home." Luke said motioning to his ride.

They stood in a quiet standoff until Julie rolled her eyes and stepped toward the passenger side. Luke rushed to open the door for her, waiting patiently as she got seated before closing it.

"Can I at least explain?" Luke asked tentatively glancing at her while they drove off.

Julie turned to look at him, her nostrils flared, eyes squinted in response.

"Not ready to talk yet. Got it." Luke said carefully as he moved to turn up the radio to drown out the deafening silence between them.

He killed the engine as he parked in her driveway a short while later. Luke took off his seatbelt and turned to face her, adjusting the beanie on his head.

"How could you?" Julie said throwing her seatbelt off, turning to face him.

"I said I was sorry." Luke began.

"No, you don't get to talk!" Julie admonished. "I needed you today Luke, and you ditched me once again."

"Julie, I was-"

"I know, you were too worried about yourself to care about anyone else!" She shot back. "You've been ignoring my texts and avoiding me in the hallways all week. I don't get it." She went on. "You know what? I don't need that, and this will all be over soon anyway so I definitely don't need your help anymore. I can just do it on my own like I wanted to from the beginning."

Julie turned to open her door, giving Luke one last glance before stepping out. He sat silently with his head against the driver side window as Julie retrieved her box from the trunk. After, she quickly disappeared into her house without so much as a backwards glance.

"Julie, why is Luke sitting on our porch?" Her dad asked as he peaked out the living room window.

Julie shrugged not looking up from her textbooks as she sat at the kitchen counter. She knew he'd been out there for over an hour, but she had nothing to say to him. Once her anger melted away, she was left again with her feelings of hurt and disappointment.

"Everything ok with you two?" He tried again.

"He ditched Julie at the fundraiser today." Carlos said as he entered the kitchen making a beeline for the fridge.

Julie gave her brother an irritated look before meeting her dad's eyes.

"Can't say I'm surprised." She said. "He's so distracted with his record deal. I can't compete with that." Julie rolled her eyes.

"You want me to get rid of him?" Her dad offered giving her shoulders a squeeze.

Julie shrugged in response. Ray nodded resolutely and headed for the front door.

———

Luke glanced over his shoulder when he heard the front door open. He stood quickly from the step when he noticed it was Julie's father. His stomach knotted when he registered the look on Mr. Molina's face.

"Luke." Ray greeted him simply, his lips pressed in a thin line.

"Hey, Mr. Molina." Luke said unable to meet her dad's eyes. He shoved his shaking hands in the front pockets of his jeans.

"Have a seat." Ray offered as he sat down on the porch step.

Luke hesitated before he took the spot beside him. The two sat in silence for a short time. Ray looked off in the distance while Luke felt like he was holding his breath waiting for the man to unleash a torrent of anger. He figured whatever her dad said or did to him was pretty much justified for how he'd treated Julie lately.

"What happened today?" Ray ventured, glancing at Luke from the corner of his eye.

Luke knew there was no point in telling Mr. Molina that his phone had died halfway through the afternoon with no way to charge it. There was also no point in telling him that Caleb Covington had made a very long and very convincing proposition for Luke to go solo (which he had considered for a millisecond before telling Caleb to shove off). And there definitely wasn't a point in telling him that he and his friends had ultimately made a decision to turn down the deal with Hollywood Records. Because none of that mattered now.

"I messed up." Luke exhaled, pulling his hat from his head and running a hand through his hair. "I really was going to help, but time got away from me and...I let Julie down. Again." He offered simply. "And hurting Julie is the last thing I ever want to do." Luke said turning to look her dad in the eye.

Ray gave him a pat on the back.

"I tried apologizing to her, but she doesn't want anything to do with me." Luke said defeated.

"Girls can be tricky that way." Ray replied as he stood. "Sometimes it's not what you say, but how you say it." He offered his parting words before he stepped back inside the house, closing the door behind him. 


	14. Chapter 14

The next morning Julie found a note tucked into the side of her locker. After deciphering Luke's terrible handwriting, she gathered he was making another attempt to apologize. Julie promptly crumpled the note with a roll of her eyes, throwing it away once she got to class.

"When are you going to forgive him? He's starting to look kinda pathetic." Flynn remarked as she and Julie took a seat in the cafeteria later that day for lunch.

Julie followed Flynn's eyes, turning to see Luke sitting at his usual table with Reggie, Alex and a handful of the other popular seniors. Reggie was talking animatedly while everyone looked on, though Luke seemed distracted and gloomy. He chanced a look at Julie just then, and she promptly turned back in her seat once their eyes met.

"Maybe he should've thought about that before he ghosted me all week. I've had enough, Flynn. I'm tired of him flaking on me!" Julie exclaimed as she stuffed a French fry in her mouth.

"You two have become pretty close in the last few weeks. I don't think he did it to be mean, Jules." Flynn sympathized. "Do you think maybe you're overreacting just a tad?" She asked gently giving Julie a knowing look.

"What? No. I'm not overreacting, that's ridiculous!" Julie balked, even though she knew her friend was probably right. "Anyway, the showcase is a week away, are you still good to help with set building on Monday?" She asked to change the subject.

"Definitely." Flynn agreed.

"Perfect! I've got a couple of other people from class coming to help, and the fundraiser earned us just enough to get those finishing touches I needed." Julie said pulling out and opening her notebook of ideas.

"That's great. What do we need to do?" Flynn asked as the girls poured over the plans until lunch ended.

"Hey Jules, can I talk to you for a second?" Luke asked when Julie and Flynn passed by him leaving the cafeteria for their next class.

"No, thanks." Julie replied flippantly.

"Please?" Luke called to her gaining the attention of several of the other students in the hall. "I'm really sorry, Julie. Will you please forgive me?" He called again.

Julie felt heat flood her face at his drawing attention to her. She spun around quickly heading back in his direction. "Would you keep your voice down?" She hissed noticing even more people were watching them now.

"I mean it, Julie. I'm really sorry. I've been a selfish idiot." Luke offered under his breath, pulling her aside from their classmates' watchful eyes.

"Go on." Julie said folding her arms over her chest, eyeing him speculatively.

Luke sighed, "And I want you to forgive me so we can go back to how we were. Go back to being friends."

"Not going to happen." Julie replied. "You don't get it, do you? Friends don't help each other one minute and ditch each other the next. Friends don't ignore each other either. My spot in the music program is riding on this, Luke. It's like you still don't get how important all of this is to me."

"I know it's important to you. It's important to me to too!" He argued.

Julie rolled her eyes.

"What do you want me to do? Announce it over the PA how sorry I am?"

"No, I want you to stop thinking about yourself and care about other people for once."

"Julie, I do care!" Luke exclaimed.

"Prove it." She said turning her back to him to head to class.

\------

"Your boyfriend is here!" Carlos teased popping his head into the bathroom where Julie was getting ready.

She stood at the mirror dabbing on a bit of lip gloss. "He's not my boyfriend!" She scoffed just before she made a grab for him.

Carlos swiftly dodged her grasp, laughing as he turned and ran downstairs. Julie was fast at his heels knowing if he answered the door before she or her dad could get to it, her brother was sure to make an embarrassing disaster of things.

"You two sound like a herd of wild elephants." Julie's dad admonished shaking his head once they'd made it to the bottom of the stairs. "I wish I could say they're never like this." Ray went on to explain to Nick as he closed the door behind him.

"That's ok. I'm sure my mom would say the same thing about me and my sister." Nick smiled politely.

"What grade is your sister in?" Carlos asked Nick suddenly.

"Sixth grade. Her name is Savannah. Savannah Thorton. Do you know her?" Nick replied looking just as curious as Julie felt.

Julie wondered why Carlos even cared until she saw his cheeks tinge pink as a look of realization crossed his face.

"Um, yeah...I might've heard of her." He said hurriedly. "I gotta go. Have fun or whatever."

"That was weird." Julie said watching her brother speed off up the stairs.

"Well, you kids have fun or whatever." Ray joked as he opened the door again for Julie and Nick to leave. "Drive safe!" He called after them.

"Ok, dad." Julie replied over her shoulder as she and Nick walked toward his car.

"Home by ten!" He called again.

Julie gave him a thumbs up.

"I love you, Jules!" She heard her dad's last call.

Julie saw him watching them from the front porch when she swiveled around to blow him a kiss. He winked and pretended to catch it, tucking it safely in a make-believe pocket on his shirt.

"You look nice." Nick told Julie once they got to his car.

She thanked him and stood waiting at the passenger side door for a moment before she realized he wasn't going to open it for her. She had apparently gotten spoiled by Luke over the last few weeks when he would drive her around. Julie bristled at her own thoughts, trying to keep Luke from sneaking into her mind.

"Are you hungry?" Nick asked starting off down the road.

"Starving."

"How do you feel about pizza at Sal's?" He suggested.

"No!" Julie exclaimed more forcefully than she intended.

Nick shot her a strange look.

Julie gave him an apologetic smile realizing she must seem crazy for overreacting. "Sorry, had pizza for dinner last night. Feelin' kinda sick of it." She lied patting her stomach for show.

Truly the last thing she wanted was to have dinner with Nick under Luke's watchful eye.

"Ok. Burgers then?"

"Perfect." Julie replied settling into her seat.

"Are you excited about the senior showcase?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, I guess. It's a lot more work than I was expecting." Julie admitted. "Luke has been a big help though."

So much for not thinking about Luke tonight.

Nick fell quiet for a moment. "So, I'm not getting in the middle of something, right?" He said tentatively.

Julie furrowed her brow, "Huh?"

"Are you two like a thing, or...?" Nick trailed off.

Julie's eyes went wide when she realized what he was asking. "Who? Me and Luke?" Her voice had come out an octave higher than normal. She cleared her throat, "Why would you ask that?"

"I don't know. Carrie said something about it, but I figured she was just jealous that you and I were going out." Nick replied with a shrug. "I mean, you two seem pretty close. I just want to make sure I'm not going to get my butt kicked by Luke Patterson on Monday."

Julie rolled her eyes at the thought of Luke beating anyone up. "I wouldn't be going out with you otherwise." She assured him. "We're just friends."

Except after their argument the day before, Julie wasn't sure what they were. But if she were being truthful with herself, a big part of her wasn't quite ready to give up on the blue-eyed rocker.

Nick nodded, "Anything I can do to help with the show?"

"Yeah, actually. I could use some extra hands to work on the set Monday after school if you don't mind."

"I'll be there." Nick said flashing her a smile.

The two talked and laughed their way through dinner, deciding to see a movie afterward. Nick suggested some action flick that Julie wasn't thrilled about seeing, but he seemed pretty enthused, so she went along with it.

"Thanks for agreeing to see this with me." Nick said while they settled into their seats. "Carrie would never sit through something like this in a million years."

Julie gave him a polite smile as she opened her box of candy. She and Carrie had been friends back in elementary school, but drifted apart over the years. She didn't have anything against her, but she felt like most of the evening had been spent being inadvertently compared to Carrie by Nick. If Julie didn't know any better, she'd guess he still had feelings for her.

The best part about the movie for Julie was her box of Sour Patch Kids. She spent most of the time creating a mental checklist of projects she needed to accomplish with the set on Monday.

"I gotta pee, can you hold this Carrie?" Nick asked handing Julie his bag of popcorn.

Julie furrowed her brow at him. Nick's eyes widened in horror the second he realized what he'd done. He made a hasty apology, but was shushed by the couple in the row behind them. He gave her an apologetic look when he returned from the restroom. She waved him off like it wasn't a big deal, and really it wasn't. She wasn't bothered by it in the least.

When it came time to say goodnight and Nick had walked her to her door, Julie was completely taken by surprise when he began leaning forward with his eyes closed as if to kiss her.

"Um, Nick." She said pressing her hand to his chest leaning away. "I had a nice time tonight, but..." she trailed off.

Nick opened his eyes, cheeks flush. "Was it the Carrie thing?" He cringed.

"No actually, it wasn't. I just think maybe you and I would be better off as friends is all." She said while she fiddled with her house key that hung on the Sunset Curve keychain Reggie had given her a couple weeks back. With it he had given her explicit instructions to tell all her friends about their band.

"I understand." Nick nodded giving Julie a look that she thought resembled something like disappointment with a hint of relief mixed in. "Guess I'll see you Monday." He offered stepping off the porch and walking toward his car.

Julie gave him a wave goodbye as he backed out of the driveway and stepped into the house. She pressed her back against the door with a sigh.

"How was your date?" Carlos teased coming from the kitchen with his eyes glued to his iPad screen.

"Fine." Julie replied toeing off her shoes. "But I'd rather talk about Savannah." She said with a smirk.

Carlos stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes darting to Julie. "I have no idea what you're talking about." He said before darting up the stairs with Julie chasing close behind. 

**Author's Note: I wanted to thank all of you for reading my story so far. I can't believe its been hanging out in the #1 and #2 spots for #Juke the last couple of days. I SO appreciate you awesome human beings for that! I love reading your comments too, so keep them coming!**

**P.S. I have some Juke-y goodness coming your way ;)**


	15. Chapter 15

Julie stood rooted in place at the doorway of the school's auditorium Monday after school. Her mind was reeling. While she was expecting to see a small group of her friends, she found a large crowd of students instead. They were working feverishly onstage creating different parts of the set she and Luke had envisioned together for the showcase. Even more surprising was seeing none other than Luke himself at the center of all the activity. She watched as he talked with several of the helpers, pointing them in different directions.

As if on autopilot, Julie walked toward the action onstage, dropping her backpack on a seat in the front row.

"Hey, Jules." Luke said with a smile as he jumped off the stage to greet her.

"Hi." She said in disbelief. "What's going on?"

"I'm showing you how sorry I am." Luke said bending down slightly to meet her eyes. "For real. Oh, and I got you these just in case." He added, reaching into his backpack to pull out a small bouquet of dahlias to give her. "Wasn't sure if you were much of a flowers-for-an-apology kind of girl."

Julie took the flowers, wondering how he knew they were her favorite. After considering them for a moment, she popped to her tiptoes and threw her arms around Luke's neck. She felt his body stiffen at her unexpected embrace, then relax just as quickly as his arms slid around her waist returning her hug.

"Thank you." She whispered as she pulled back a moment later, feeling overwhelmed by her emotions.

Luke took a step back and cleared his throat, adjusting the gray beanie on his head. Julie tucked her hair behind her ear, suddenly feeling bashful from her surprisingly bold move. She turned to set the flowers down on her backpack wanting to look anywhere but at Luke so she could clear her head.

"I see you finally used your charms for good." Julie teased noticing the large amount of female classmates working onstage that were now stealing glances at her and Luke.

Her heart beat wildly as he grinned and interlaced his fingers with hers, pulling her with him toward the stage. "Let me show you what we've got going on," he said. 

Julie tried her best to be attentive to all the details Luke was giving her, but all she could seem to think about for some reason was what his lips would feel like on hers.

"So what do you think?" Luke asked breaking her from the spell she was under.

"Hmm? Oh, definitely!" Julie replied plastering a smile on her face hoping she'd said the right thing.

Luke gave her a funny look.

"Hey, Julie!" A familiar voice called. Julie turned at the sound of her name.

"Nick, you made it." She said ignoring Luke's muttering under his breath as they watched him approach.

"Of course. I'm always happy to help you Julie, you know that!"

"Ok, well maybe you can make yourself useful somewhere over there." Luke said squaring up to Nick as he motioned toward a very distant part of the stage.

Julie stepped up, gently nudging Luke aside. She offered Nick a strained smile, "I think we can definitely find somewhere for you to get started." She said, giving Luke a warning look. 

She knew he wasn't Nick's biggest fan, but they didn't have time for him to be domineering right now. Julie motioned for Nick to follow her and the two found a place to work on painting parts of the backdrop together.

"Things are coming together fast." Nick commented.

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting this many people." She said looking around. "Luke really surprised me."

Her eyes met with Luke's from across the stage as he stood talking with Alex, Reggie and Flynn. His face lit up when she flashed him a smile. Butterflies coursed through her when he smiled back. 

"Julie, I think you've got something on your face." Nick said seriously, leaning toward her to investigate.

Julie wiped her hand across her cheek wondering what it could be when she felt the cold, soft bristles of Nick's paintbrush on the tip of her nose. Her jaw dropped in shock as Nick chuckled mischievously.

"Oh, is that how it is?" Julie giggled as she flung paint from her brush in his direction.

The two laughed as they both attempted to dodge and attack one another with their brushes.

"Truce?" Nick called after they had gone back and forth several times coming away with their fair share of paint splotches.

"Hey Jules, can you help me with something over here?" Luke came to ask, throwing Nick a hard look.

"Sure, what's up?" Julie said setting her things down to follow him.

He took her hand in his and led her, without a word, to a quiet place backstage away from the others. "You've got a spot." Luke scoffed as he pulled part of his shirt sleeve into his hand and used it to wipe the paint splotch off Julie's nose.

His eyes scanned the rest of her face then. Using his thumb to swipe away another speck from her cheek, he pressed his warm palm to her skin. Julie's heart hammered in her chest, leaning into his touch. She found herself wondering again what his lips would feel like on hers while he moved in closer, staring at her mouth. 

A loud crash onstage startled them both apart. They shared a concerned look before going to investigate the noise. Julie's heart sank when she saw several large parts of the set on the floor in pieces. She knelt to the ground beside them feeling tears of frustration fill her eyes. A handful of their classmates stood around the mess looking guilty. 

"Luke, we are so sorry!" One of the girls offered.

"It's ok. No one is hurt, right?" He said surveying the group. The surrounding people shook their heads.

He bent down next to Julie to assess the damage more closely. They exchanged a look. Luke seemed miserable while she was busy trying to keep her tears at bay. She didn't want to be a blubbering baby in front of half the student body. 

"I think we're done for today, guys! We'll finish up same time tomorrow." Luke announced standing to address everyone. He pulled his beanie from his head, running a hand through his hair. 

He sat down next to Julie, putting his hat back on, while everyone else gathered their things and said their goodbyes before trickling out of the auditorium. Luke and Julie sat in silence staring at the broken remains of their vision.

"The show is in four days. We were so close to being finished." Julie squeaked out, wiping a stray tear from her cheek. "I was going to use the money from the fundraiser to add the finishing touches we had talked about. Now I'm going to have to use the money to fix this."

Luke stood to his feet suddenly pulling his cell phone from his back pocket. He walked off as he began talking to someone on the other end. Julie sat and made a feeble attempt to put back the broken pieces in front of her.

"My dad is on his way to help." Luke offered excitedly as he came back to sit by Julie. "He's really good with all this stuff." He said motioning to the mess in front of them.

"Thanks," Julie said with a half-hearted smile.

"Don't worry, Jules. I got you." Luke said with a wink.

Julie laid on her back staring up at the ceiling thinking of everything that still needed to be done, but feeling no motivation to do it. Luke's arm brushed hers as he lay down beside her a moment later.

"How was your weekend?" He asked.

Julie knew it was a loaded question. She shrugged noncommittally offering an indifferent sounding grunt in response. 

"Did you know people think we're a thing?" She chuckled, remembering her conversation with Nick.

Luke lay quietly beside her. "I guess there are worse things to think," he finally offered.

Julie glanced at him from the corner of her eye finding him staring intently at the ceiling above them, his face not giving anything away. 

"We should see what we can salvage here." Luke said a moment later getting up off the ground.

He stood over Julie offering her a hand up. As he pulled her to her feet, she found herself crashing into his chest as she lost her footing. Luke wrapped his arms around her keeping her close. She looked up to find him giving her a gentle smile.

"Sorry about that." Julie apologized, feeling her stomach flutter with nerves.

"No problem." Luke replied.

Julie returned his smile taking a step back from his embrace to regain her composure. Luke adjusted the gray beanie on his head and turned to survey the tasks before them. They worked in companionable silence, lost to their own thoughts, fixing and resetting what they could. 

"The cavalry is here!" A man, Julie assumed was Luke's dad, announced as he entered the auditorium a short while later. His arms were loaded down with extension cords and a tool box in each hand. A woman followed close behind carrying a picnic basket and several other power tools.

"It looks amazing!" The woman remarked looking awed as she headed toward them.

Luke approached the woman taking the items from her hands as she climbed the stairs to the stage. She pulled his head down greeting him with a kiss on top of his hat. Her eyes lit up when she caught sight of Julie.

"You must be Julie!" She said making quick work of crossing the stage to wrap her in an unexpected hug.

Julie felt an ache in her chest, suddenly missing her own mom, but relishing the embrace nonetheless.

"I'm Emily, Luke's mom." The woman introduced herself giving Julie a smile that was just like her son's. "And this is Luke's dad, Mitch." Emily went on motioning for the man to join her.

"Hi, Julie. It's nice to meet you. We've heard a lot about you." He said giving Luke a playful wink.

Julie smiled politely as she watched Luke tug at his beanie, his cheeks tinging pink.

Luke cleared his throat, "So, do you think it's fixable?" He asked his dad, effectively changing the subject.

After a quick assessment of the damage, the two men got to work while Julie and Emily swept and cleaned up the broken pieces scattered on the stage.

"Are you looking forward to the show?" Emily asked.

Julie shrugged, "I'm pretty nervous actually. I haven't really performed since my mom died."

"I bet she'd be so proud. This is amazing." Emily remarked as she gave Julie's arm a gentle squeeze. "And I hear you are quite a gifted musician."

Julie smiled politely as she tucked her hair behind her ear. She was seriously beginning to wonder just how often she came up in conversation at the Patterson household. 

"It's getting late, you must be hungry. I brought some snacks." Emily said setting down her broom to retrieve the picnic basket she'd brought.

Julie sat down beside her on the stage and began helping pull out the food, paper plates and napkins Emily had packed. They talked about school, Julie's family and Flynn while they set up their makeshift picnic. When they were finished, Emily called Luke and Mitch to join them. 

"No hats while we eat." Luke's dad chided pulling the beanie from Luke's head and dropping it on his lap.

Luke rolled his eyes.

"He's been wearing those since he was just a little kid." Emily said to Julie with a smile.

"Mom, Julie doesn't care." Luke said as he pulled his hair back into a ponytail.

"Oh, Julie cares very much. Tell me more about little Luke." She said eagerly turning her attention to Emily.

"Well, he used to wear all kinds of hats. I guess they were kind of like a security blanket. His favorite was this foam cowboy hat."

"Mom!" Luke interrupted having the good sense to know where her story was going.

His mom continued undeterred, "He would put that hat on, grab his little guitar and come out in the living room in nothing but his under-"

"Mom!" Luke admonished again as he put his hand over his mom's mouth to silence her.

"Please stop." He said looking miserable.

Everyone but Luke laughed.

"So you've always been a performer, huh?" Julie asked trying to contain her smile.

"Yeah, we can't seem to convince him otherwise." Mitch remarked giving his son a pointed look.

Luke looked down playing with the lace of his shoe.

"My dad has his own video production company and my mom was a musician, so I guess it's in my blood too." Julie offered to ease the tension that had quickly entered the room.

Luke glanced up giving her a grateful smile before standing to his feet. He brushed himself off, slid his hat on his head, and went back to the project at hand. 


	16. Chapter 16

**_Big day today!_** Luke texted Julie first thing Friday morning.

She quickly sent back a screen full of green-faced emojis.

**_I think I'm coming down with something._ **

**_You'll be fine without me!_** She added a moment later.

Luke rolled his eyes and sent back: **_I'll be there to get you in 20 minutes._**

"Dude, I want a rematch on Blind Assassins tonight! And please don't put me on Reggie's team." Carlos said by way of greeting as he climbed into the backseat of Luke's jeep.

"Listen, kid. I don't think you're ready to be on my force yet." Luke said glancing at him in the rear view mirror. "What's wrong with Reggie's team?"

"He scares too easy and my ears hurt from all the screaming." Carlos replied looking irritated, rubbing his ear for show.

Luke smirked shaking his head, "Where's your sister? We're going to be late."

Carlos shrugged, "Probably trying to get all pretty for you." He said rolling his eyes.

"She's perfect already." Luke said with a smile.

Carlos pretended to gag and held up his hand, "I'm gonna stop you right there. That sounds like romantic stuff." He said shuddering and turned his attention to his cell phone.

Luke watched as Julie emerged from the house a moment later looking frazzled. She had piled her hair on top of her head in a messy bun with stray curls springing out here and there. One of her shoes was untied and it looked like she'd buttoned up her shirt wrong.

"Hey, Jules." Luke greeted her gently offering her a strained smile as she climbed into the passenger side.

"What's up with your hair?" Carlos teased before she'd even had a chance to put her seatbelt on. 

Julie whipped around in her seat giving her brother a look that could kill. "I didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night." She hissed. "So I suggest you keep your comments to yourself if you want to live to see your next birthday, baby brother."

Carlos gave her a wide-eyed look and went back to his phone saying no more except to utter his thanks as Luke dropped him off at school.

"So, this is it. Senior showcase day!" Luke said, trying to ease the tension in the vehicle.

Julie turned from fixing her hair in the mirror of the visor to give him a heavy-lidded look as they started down the road again. 

"My mom made you some of her special calming tea." Luke offered holding up a travel mug.

"Tell her I said thank you." Julie replied taking the cup from his hand.

Their fingers grazed one another, sending a buzz of energy up Luke's arm. They exchanged a smile, and he reached to turn up the volume on the radio. Julie sipped on the drink and stared quietly out her window for the rest of the ride.

"Listen Jules, you know I'm a huge fan of your style, but I'm pretty sure that's not how that shirt is supposed to look." Flynn said approaching Luke and Julie on their way into school.

Julie stopped to look down at her outfit. She let out a frustrated growl and stomped off toward the bathroom.

"Rough morning?" Flynn wondered.

"Don't ask." Luke said shaking his head walking off toward class. 

Julie was noticeably absent from the cafeteria later that day, but Luke knew exactly where to find her. 

"Missed you at lunch" He said climbing the stairs to the stage finding her sitting at the piano. 

"I just found out our opening act has strep throat." Julie said absently toying with a couple of the keys.

He took a seat beside her on the bench. "Ok, so we make our second act the opening act." Luke suggested. "No big deal."

"Right. Except that moves my performance up even sooner." She said with a sigh. 

Luke suddenly realized why Julie was so stressed. He knew nothing he said would ease her mind, so he decided to comfort her the only other way he knew how. 

He knew her song by heart, they'd practiced it endlessly over the last few days. Reaching out, he began to play the opening notes on the piano, humming the tune. Seeming lost in thought, Julie's hand soon covered his, playing along. 

Luke swallowed hard unable to meet her eyes, "You're going to be amazing, Jules." He said barely above a whisper.

The bell rang then, signaling the end of lunch. Julie pulled her hand back quickly and stuffed it under her leg, giving him a nod, "Let's just hope nothing else goes wrong in the meantime." 

She cleared her throat and quickly gathered her things, leaving Luke alone. 

When he caught sight of Julie standing backstage that evening just before the show, Luke's heart skipped a beat . Her normally curly hair hung straight and long down her back, and the black dress she wore hugged her in all the right places. She was beautiful. He had to stop and think about baseball and calculus for a moment before he went to greet her and ask what needed to be done before opening. 

While he was used to performing, this definitely wasn't a Sunset Curve gig. His stomach flip-flopped with nervous energy as co-host, but he could tell that whatever uncertainty Julie had felt earlier melted away now that she was onstage. A born entertainer, she radiated confidence and had the audience eating out of the palm of her hand. 

Luke had never been so captivated by someone in his life. 

As the evening wound down, Julie paced nervously backstage while Ms. Harrison did the honors of introducing her for her final performance, "Each year it is the honor of a junior student in the musical arts program to plan and host the senior showcase. I think we can all agree that Julie Molina has outdone herself with this year's show." The crowd clapped along in agreement. "It is also a long-standing tradition for the hosting junior to give the final performance of the evening as a way to usher in the next class of musical talent going into their final year here at Los Feliz. Julie is an exceptional young lady and you're in for a real treat. Please join me in welcoming her back to the stage."

Luke watched as Julie clenched her fists at her sides and walked out slowly to the grand piano. She sat down and stared at her fingers for a moment. When she looked up to meet his eyes, Luke offered her a reassuring smile. She turned to glance at the crowd then back to him. His heart ached at the panic stricken look on her face. He knew she was freezing up. The crowd became restless as she sat unmoving at the keys.

"You got this!" He whispered to her.

Luke's mind spun as he tried to think of some way to help. The acoustic guitar sitting off to the side caught his eyes and gave him an idea. When he began to strum the opening chords to her song, it seemed to break her from the trance she was under. Her fingers began to move as she played along with him, building momentum as she went. Luke eventually set the guitar down. Whatever insecurity she had before quickly melted away while she belted out the lyrics to the last song she and her mom had written together. 

At her final note, the audience exploded with cheers and applause. Luke's was by far the loudest. Julie motioned for him to join her onstage after she'd taken a bow. He made his appearance, taking a bow alongside her. Though, he quickly stepped aside motioning for the crowd to give it up for Julie. This was her show. This was her moment.

When they got backstage, Julie leapt at Luke wrapping her arms around his neck in a tight embrace like she had before. His heart hammered in his chest feeling her body pressed against his. He wrapped his arms around her squeezing her back. He wasn't sure if it was the thrill of the evening or the sweet scent of her shampoo that was making his head spin.

"You were amazing." Luke said.

Julie pulled back sniffling. She wiped her cheek glancing timidly up at him, "Thanks for rescuing me out there."

"I got you, Jules." He said with a wink.

"I couldn't have done any of this without you, Luke." She said going back for another quick hug.

They didn't have much time to enjoy their moment alone since they were suddenly surrounded and bombarded with back pats, hugs and words of congratulations from their family and friends. As Luke stood listening to everyone recount their favorite parts of the evening, he saw Principal Lessa standing a short ways off motioning him to her.

"Mister Patterson." She greeted Luke as he approached her cautiously. "You've done exceptionally well here tonight. You should be proud." She said.

He felt his shoulders relax at her words, "It was all Julie. I just tried to stay out of the way." He teased. 

"Yes, that reminds me. I haven't seen you in my office in quite awhile." She remarked. "It seems time with Miss Molina has been good for you."

Luke glanced over at Julie being embraced by his mother, surrounded still by the smiling group of their loved ones. 

He rubbed the back of his neck, a bashful smile on his lips, "Yes it has." He replied looking back at his principal.

She gave him a subtle wink and a pat on the shoulder as she walked off to talk with Ms. Harrison. Luke rejoined the group feeling a sense of relief wash over him now that the challenge of planning the event was over. But when his eyes met Julie's he couldn't help wonder where that left him and his brown-eyed songbird . 


	17. Chapter 17

With the showcase over, and the school year rapidly coming to an end, the hallways quickly began to fill with banners and posters advertising prom. Julie hadn't put much thought into attending the event since she couldn't go unless she was invited by a senior. Plus the only seniors she knew weren't much for school sponsored events unless there was some kind of havoc they could create. 

"Hey, so um, prom is coming up soon." Luke said leaning on the locker beside Julie's.

"Uh huh." Julie replied distractedly as she put her books back in her locker. She really wasn't in the mood to discuss possible pranks that he, Reggie and Alex were thinking of pulling at the dance. 

He was quiet for a moment. Julie glanced at him from the corner of her eye noticing him massaging the back of his neck like he did when he was worried about something.

"You ok?" She asked.

"Yeah, I was just wondering if maybe-"

"Luke!" Reggie shouted from down the hall as he charged towards them.

Luke rolled his eyes at the distraction, pulling the knit cap from his head and running a hand through his hair.

"What is it Reginald?" Luke huffed as Reggie approached breathless.

"Dude! I booked us a gig." He beamed, oblivious to the dagger eyes Luke was giving him.

This seemed to change Luke's mood some, "Really? When? Where?"

"My cousin pulled some strings, and we're going to play his Bar Mitzvah this Saturday!" He announced triumphantly.

Luke's face fell, "Seriously?"

Julie bit her lip to hide her smile and turned to her locker, needlessly rearranging her books.

"Yeah, isn't that great?"

"Great, Reg." Luke said giving him a pat on the back.

"So I was giving some thought to the set list..." Reggie began as he threw his arm around Luke's shoulder leading him away down the hall.

Julie smiled and shook her head. Closing her locker, she headed to class wondering what Luke had been about to ask her.

\------

"Hey Sal!" Julie said standing at the threshold of the kitchen at the pizzeria later that day.

"Hey, Julie!" He replied, kneading a ball of dough on the counter.

"Julie!" Luke said sounding surprised as he emerged from the walk-in refrigerator, arms full of supplies.

"Oh, I just remembered I have to go...do a thing...in the office." Sal said abandoning his work suddenly to leave them alone in the kitchen.

"Real subtle, Sal!" Luke called after him, setting his things on the counter. "What's up, Jules?"

Julie shrugged. She really didn't have any reason to be there. Truthfully, she just wanted to spend time with Luke, but she wasn't quite ready to tell him that. "Looking forward to your Bar Mitzvah?" She chuckled.

"Yeah, laugh it up! A gig is a gig." He replied rolling his eyes at her. 

She watched, transfixed, as Luke took over kneading the dough Sal left behind. His arm muscles rippled with each move beneath his T-shirt sleeves.

"Hello? Earth to Julie!" Luke said smiling.

She felt her cheeks heat with embarrassment at being caught. "What?"

"I asked you if you wanted to help me. I mean, as long as you're not too busy staring." Luke said flexing his arm playfully.

Julie rolled her eyes and went to wash her hands in the nearby sink.

"You have to cover your hair." Luke said as he pulled his cap from his head fitting it over Julie's when she came to stand by his side.

She gave him a smile, adjusting the brim, and began to squeeze the piece of dough Luke had given her.

"So you have to really get in there." Luke coached as Julie continued to press her hands into the soft dough. "Not quite. More like this." He offered sliding one arm around her back pressing closer to her and placing his hands over hers. Julie stiffened at the unexpected contact.

"You ok?" Luke asked.

Julie swallowed hard, "Yeah." She managed to croak out as she willed herself to relax.

"You have to press really hard and flip it every once in awhile." He explained as he manipulated her hands under his.

"Got it." Julie said nodding her head as Luke stepped back to his own space a moment later.

The two worked quietly side by side until Luke announced it was time to toss the dough. Julie gave him an incredulous look and flicked flour in his direction. Luke smiled mischievously and flicked a bit of flour back, wiping some on her nose. He explained how to stretch and toss the dough while he threw his in the air, making it look effortless. Julie laughed as she tried to imitate his actions, failing miserably in the process.

"Ok, so I don't think pizza making is in your future." Luke admitted as he helped Julie scrape dough up off the floor.

"You think?" Julie laughed throwing a chunk from the floor at him, laughing even more when it hit Luke squarely between his eyes.

He pursed his lips, jutting out his jaw in playful annoyance. "Oh, I see how it is!" He exclaimed before launching a counterattack on her.

"What is going on here?" Sal exclaimed sobering Julie and Luke instantly as they chased each other around the kitchen.

Luke cleared his throat trying to stifle a laugh. "Just showing Julie how to make pizza."

Julie put on her most innocent face as she tried to catch her breath.

"Clean this up. Now!" Sal barked as he turned to walk away, although Julie could've sworn she saw a smile on his face.

She grabbed a nearby broom to sweep up as Luke began to scrape dough from the various surfaces that fell victim to the attack. 

"Julie?" He asked drawing near to her.

"Yeah?" Julie replied feeling suddenly breathless again at Luke's closeness.

"You've got something in your hair." He teased as he gently pinched a piece of dough from her curls. 

"Thanks." She said, feeling a pleasant tension building between them the longer they stood unspeaking. It seemed like Luke was weighing something in his mind. 

"I was going to ask earlier if you wanted to-" He began.

Sal barged back into the kitchen just then making Julie and Luke jump. "Are you guys done yet? We've got orders backing up!" He shouted.

"Yes, Sal. We're done." Luke said with a subtle roll of his eyes.

"I'll see you later." Julie said as she made her way from the kitchen. She went to grab her backpack and headed for the door.

"Jules!" She heard Luke call.

Julie turned to find him jogging toward her, smiling as he plucked his hat from her head. Julie returned his smile turning to leave.

"Hey," Luke said grabbing her arm to stop her. 

She turned back finding him standing so close the toes of their shoes practically touched. 

"Would you maybe want to go to prom with me? I've been meaning to ask you all day, but I kept getting interrupted and if you don't want to that's cool I guess, but I thought that we could have a good time?" Luke rushed out in a single breath.

Julie stared at him for a moment and quirked her brow. She wasn't sure she'd heard him right.

"Ok, no big deal. Just thought I'd ask." Luke said when she didn't respond right away. Looking defeated, he slid his cap on backwards over his head before he turned to walk away.

"Actually," Julie said making a grab for his hand to stop him, "I'd love to."

Luke's face lit up with a smile that made Julie's heart do funny things.

"Yeah?" He asked shooting her a scrutinizing look.

Julie's mind was swirling, her stomach erupted in butterflies. "Yeah," Julie replied with a giggle.

"Cool." He said simply as he gave her a nod before heading back to the kitchen.

As soon as he'd disappeared around the corner, Julie texted Flynn.

**_Luke just asked me to prom 😱_ **

**_Time to level up from friend status_** 😉 Flynn replied. 

_**And we need to go shopping!** _She added.

Julie felt like she as floating on air as she made her way home.

 **Yes and Yes** was her simple reply. 


	18. Chapter 18

"Luke won't be able to keep his eyes off of you tonight." Flynn smirked, her eyes meeting Julie's in the mirror. Julie gave her a shy smile and handed back the necklace she wanted to wear. Flynn helped fasten it around her neck. "You're perfect, leave it alone." She admonished playfully as Julie dabbed a bit more gloss on her lips.

"I think we need a few more pins." Julie said scrutinizing her updo. "Oh, and I want to put my mom's barrette somewhere in there."

Flynn nodded and set to work.

"Ok, I think I'm ready. How do I look?" Julie asked finally feeling satisfied with her appearance. She ran her hands down her lacy black dress smoothing it across her hips turning to face Flynn.

"Gorgeous!" Flynn said. "That dress was made for twirling. Give me a twirl!"

Julie happily obliged feeling the short, fluffy skirt billow around her. The girls smiled at one another after Julie came to a stop.

"Aww, my little girl is all grown up." Flynn teased, a sentimental look crossing her features.

"Jules, they're here!" Ray called upstairs.

Julie took a deep breath to calm the butterflies she felt erupt in her stomach. Flynn needlessly adjusted one of the sequined straps at Julie's shoulder and gave a final tug to the bow at the back of her waist. The two walked arm in arm toward Julie's bedroom door.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Julie exclaimed to herself, quickly turning back to grab a gift bag from the top of her dresser.

Flynn gave her a curious look as they made their way downstairs. Julie saw her family and Luke's parents gathered expectantly at the bottom of the stairs, their voices low in polite conversation.

It was the sight of Luke that set Julie's heart into overdrive. She saw him standing stiffly by the front door, one hand fiddling with the button of his tuxedo jacket, the other clutching a pale pink dahlia. Luke's face burst into a wide grin as soon as their eyes met. Julie smiled back walking towards him while the adults erupted excitedly telling her how beautiful she looked.

"Wow." Luke whispered, his eyes bright as he handed Julie her flower.

Her eyes raked over him from head to toe, "You clean up nice." Julie remarked, bringing the flower to her nose.

Luke playfully tugged at the lapels of his jacket giving her a smug grin. His wavy brown hair was combed back and tamed by some sort of hair product, his face smooth with the smell of his aftershave still fresh on his skin. Julie giggled at his antics wondering how long his jacket would last during their evening, and at what point his bow tie would be completely abandoned.

"Here, mija!" Julie's aunt came forward with a boutonniere for her to give to Luke.

"Don't poke me!" Luke teased as Julie got close with pin in hand.

She gave him a half-lidded look as she expertly attached the flower to his lapel, her hands lingering afterward on his chest.

"Ok, picture time!" Ray suddenly announced, breaking the tension in the air. Julie saw him shoot Luke a look as he ushered the group outside.

"I think we're good dad!" Julie whined after posing for what felt like the millionth photo. "My face is starting to hurt."

"Alright, alright!" He conceded as he played with the settings on his camera.

Luke dodged his mother's continued attempts to adjust his hair and preen his tux, stopping just long enough for her to tweak his bow tie and give him a goodbye kiss on the cheek.

"I have to grab a few things." Julie announced as she hurried back inside, suddenly missing her own mom. She quickly set her dahlia in water before grabbing her clutch and the gift bag, and dashing back outside.

Emily stopped Julie just before she reached Luke's Jeep. Leaning in to give her a quick hug, she whispered conspiratorially, "Just a word of advice? Watch your toes while you're dancing."

Julie furrowed her brow at the remark. Emily gave her a wink.

"He gets his two left feet from my side of the family." Mitch murmured with a smirk.

"Ok, time to get this party started." Luke said taking Julie by the hand and pulling her away.

"Wait, I wanted to give you something before we go." Julie announced as Luke pulled the passenger side door open for her.

He gave her a curious look as she handed him the gift bag.

"What's this?" He smiled pulling out an orange, hand-knit beanie.

"I was getting tired of seeing you wear that same old gray one." Julie teased giving him a nudge.

"You made this? For me?" Luke asked, his eyes sparkling.

"Yeah, I mean it's not perfect, but..." Julie trailed off suddenly feeling foolish for assuming he'd even want a new hat. "You don't have to wear it if you don't want, I won't be offended." She tried to explain.

"Are you kidding? I love it, Jules." He said and scooped her into a quick hug. "Thank you."

Julie nodded, feeling heat rise to her cheeks as she realized they had an audience with Flynn and their families watching.

"Your chariot awaits, my lady." Luke said paying no attention to the crowd. He gave a dramatic bow and with a sweeping gesture, motioned for Julie to take a seat.

When they walked into the hotel's ballroom, it was like they had teleported to a dreamland. The room was softly lit with twinkle lights and candles. Silvery decorations hung everywhere from floor to ceiling and there was a soft, pleasant music playing throughout.

Julie couldn't help but feel a little nervous and out of place being one of the very few juniors in attendance. Luke must've sensed her discomfort and took her hand in his giving it a reassuring squeeze. Heat rose to her cheeks when she noticed the glances being cast their way. Apparently the other girls weren't too thrilled to see her as Luke's choice for prom date. He seemed completely oblivious to it all though, giving Julie a great big smile as he guided her to their table for dinner.

"What's funny?" He asked giving Julie a curious look when she chuckled watching him remove his suit jacket before he'd even sat down.

"It's nothing." She said waving it off. "I'm just surprised that stayed on as long as it did." She explained watching him unbutton and roll up his shirt sleeves next. "I bet the bow tie won't last through dinner."

Luke quirked his brow at her challenge, "Already undressing me with your eyes, huh Jules?" He teased.

Julie choked on her sip of water. Luke patted her on the back trying to fight his smile.

"Do you dance?" Julie asked while their dinner plates were cleared away some time later.

The music overhead had changed, a loud beat pumped throughout the room. Several of the couples around them got up to head to the dance floor.

Luke cleared his throat, "Not unless forced." He said.

"Then why, Luke Patterson, did you ask me here tonight?" Julie wondered crossing her arms over her chest giving him a hard look.

Luke shrugged innocently at her.

Julie scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Come on," she said taking him by the hand. "I'm forcing you!"

She quickly found out he was a pretty terrible dancer, but it really didn't matter since they were too busy laughing and having fun together. Luke abandoned his bow tie by the third song.

"Think you got one more in ya?" Luke asked standing to his feet after they'd rested for awhile.

The DJ had announced it was the final slow song of the evening and the dance floor was quickly filling up. He held his hand out to Julie, pulling her to her feet, and led her to the outer edges of the floor.

"Did you have a nice time tonight?" He asked pulling her closely in his arms as they swayed back and forth to the song.

"I had a great time. What about you? I didn't really think a school dance was your thing." Julie cringed when Luke accidentally stepped on her toe.

"Sorry!" He apologized quickly. "My mom warned me not to pick up my feet too much."

"Your mom taught you well," Julie encouraged. "That was your first time tonight."

"I've been practicing all week." Luke admitted shyly. "But yeah, I had a really good time tonight. You know, I've been finding myself liking school functions more and more lately. Strange, huh?" He said giving her a playful look.

Julie rolled her eyes at him.

"Can I tell you something?" Luke ventured as they gradually came to a stop in the middle of the song.

Julie's stomach twisted as she considered the serious expression on his face. She gave him a nod, swallowing hard. Luke twined their fingers together as he pressed his forehead to hers. In that moment, Julie could've sworn they were the only two people in the room. Maybe even the world.

"I asked you to prom because...I just wanted a reason to be close to you all night." Luke whispered.

"Why?" Julie whispered back.

Luke brought his hand up to cup Julie's cheek, pulling back slightly to look at her.

"Because...I'm falling for you." He admitted, searching her eyes.

Julie's mouth instantly broke into a wide grin, "Oh yeah?" She said, her heart soared at his words.

"Definitely," Luke smiled back pressing his forehead to hers as the song came to an end.

...

"Ok, let's see how this fits." Julie suggested as she pulled out the hat she'd made for Luke from its gift bag.

The two had been parked out in front of her house talking and joking for the better part of an hour, neither ready for the magic of the night to end. Luke sat perfectly still as Julie fit the hat over his head ceremonially as if it were a crown.

"Perfect!" She exclaimed.

Luke glanced at himself in the rear view mirror. He adjusted the hat slightly then turned to give her a smile.

"Orange is a good color for you." Julie remarked.

"That's why it's my favorite." He said playfully rolling his eyes.

Julie wrinkled her nose back at him.

Luke's expression turned serious then as he leaned in closely to her, "Hey Jules?"

"Yeah?"

"Would it be alright if I kissed you?"

He swallowed hard. Julie answered by closing the space between them, pressing her lips to Luke's. With her heart pounding in her chest, a wave of unexpected emotion coursed through her, leaving her dizzy.

"I thought you'd never ask." She said, her mouth still lingering near his.

Feeling bold, she tilted her head ever so slightly going back for another, deeper kiss. She let the tip of her tongue graze his bottom lip. Her hands gripped the front of his dress shirt, pulling him even closer. Luke grunted in response. His lips were soft, his kisses were gentle but urgent, like he couldn't get enough of her. Taking her face in his hands, he let his right thumb gently stroke her cheek before his fingers traced their way carefully along her neck, past her shoulders and down her arms. His touch sent a pleasant shiver up Julie's spine.

They pulled away after awhile, both short of breath. Luke flopped back in his seat.

"Where did that come from?" He exclaimed glancing at her from the corner of his eye.

Julie flashed him a devilish grin, "I thought you knew I like to keep you on your toes." She said.

"You've been doing that ever since we met." He replied playfully rolling his eyes.

"Did you ever think we'd end up here?" She asked thinking about all that had changed between them since the beginning.

Luke chuckled going back for another kiss, "This was definitely unexpected." 


	19. Epilogue

10 years later...

The audience roared to life the second the venue's lights went black. The screams and cheers were deafening. Even after all these years, Julie still couldn't get used to it. She took a tentative peak from backstage at the sold out crowd who'd begun chanting for the band as the concert's intro video played on screen.

She suddenly felt someone grab a handful of her backside making her jump. "Reggie is that you?" She teased.

Luke spun her around, a hard look on his face. "What do you mean, Reggie?"

She giggled and threw her arms around his neck giving him a kiss. "Have a great show," she said feeling his lips find their way to her neck, coursing along her skin.

"Save it for later!" Alex yelled pulling Luke from Julie's grasp leading him toward the stage.

Luke glanced back at her, a dopey-dazed look on his face. Julie bit back a smile loving the effect she still had on him after all this time.

The crowd erupted again, even louder than before, as the three guys took their places onstage. They powered into their first song while the fans sang along with every word.

Sunset Curve found fame shortly after the boys graduated high school. Apparently someone from Reggie's cousin's Bar Mitzvah had recorded their set and uploaded parts of it to YouTube. Luke's song for Julie, Unexpected, went viral. Shortly after, dozens of managers and record companies came their way.

The last several years had been spent touring in Europe and the U.S. as the opening act for a number of popular bands until they eventually started headlining their own shows.

Julie stood by Luke's side through it all. It wasn't always easy as she went out of state to attend college and started a career of her own. She thought about the hard roads they'd faced together as she watched him and his best friends performing in front of thousands of people-living their dream.

During their tour they'd traveled to over forty states and done about fifty performances. They were tired and ready for a break, but tonight's show was extra special. Not only was it their last one, but Sunset Curve was playing in front of their hometown crowd. They were especially amped up with all their families and friends watching.

Midway through their set, Luke stepped up to the microphone to address the audience. Julie watched on as he spoke, "We've come a long way on the tour and we couldn't have done it without you guys!"

The crowd cheered appreciatively.

"But we definitely wouldn't have been able to do any of this without the love and support of our families and friends." He went on glancing over at Julie standing backstage.

She gave him a thumbs up and a smile.

"A lot of them are here tonight. One person in particular has been with me through thick and thin. She's my best friend. You guys know my girlfriend Julie, right?"

Everyone cheered again. Of course they knew her. He talked about her every chance he got, and the two had graced the covers of several tabloids over the years.

"Well, she's here backstage. What do you say we bring her out to say hello?" Luke smiled mischievously at Julie, setting down his guitar.

Eyes wide and heart racing, she shook her head no. Julie had always preferred to let Luke have the spotlight. He jogged over, pulling her onstage despite her protests. The noise of the crowd swelled as she came to stand beside him. She gave everyone a friendly wave feeling her pulse thumping.

"I'm going to kill you." Julie muttered to Luke through a clenched smile, putting a vice-like grip on his hand.

"Aww, you love it." Luke said pressing a kiss to her cheek. "Julie and I have been together since high school. She's put up with a lot of my crap over the years." He explained to the crowd.

Julie wondered where all of this was going until she saw Luke turn to address her, "I love you Jules and I can't imagine life without you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you through all the good stuff and the bad."

Julie felt everything around them disappear, her mind working feverishly to take in every detail of the moment as Luke set down his microphone and knelt in front of her on one knee. He dug into his pocket, pulling out a small box. Julie gasped feeling tears of joy well in her eyes when he opened it revealing the ring inside.

Luke's eyes glistened, his voice thick with emotion, "Jules?"

"Yeah?" Julie replied, her voice quivering.

"Will you marry me?"

"I thought you'd never ask!" She said nodding her head yes.

With shaking hands, Luke took the ring from the box sliding it on her finger. Julie flung her arms around him once he stood to his feet. She'd suddenly become aware of the thousands of people screaming and cheering around them.

"You're in so much trouble." Julie chuckled pressing her smiling lips to his.

"Just keeping you on your toes!" Luke replied.

"Of course," Julie said. "I've learned to always expect the unexpected when it comes to you."


End file.
